Never Again
by TwilightsVampyre
Summary: Edward left Bella...again. Now, 40 years later, Edward finds time to pop in and check up on Bella. Jacob says Bella's gone...for good. Oh goody! Edward's upset that she's gone, time to go upset the Volturi! But guess who part of the Volturi NOW...
1. Chapter 1

_Hey! So yes I got another idea for a new story and I really like this idea. These ideas just keep coming lately (well in the last couple of hours or so) and I decided that THIS is the one I wanna start on._

_Disclaimer- all characters in this belong to stephenie…not me. got it? good._

* * *

…Chapter 1… 

Year 2047:

I walked out of the feeding room, lightly patting my mouth with a small piece of cloth. I walked down the large castle halls towards my room.

On my way, I passed Alec. He smiled and slowed his pace, obviously stopping to chat with me. I stopped and looked down at him, smiling the most whole-hearted smile I could conjure up. I hadn't smiled for real in a long time.

"Hey, Isabella. I was just going to the feeding room, do you want to come?" Alec asked kindly.

"No thanks, I just came from there," I replied honestly.

He slowly began walking in the direction he'd been going. "Hope you saved some for me!" he yelled over his shoulder.

I began walking towards my room again. I giggled and shook my head at what Alec had said. Of course I'd saved some for him. I loved that kid.

When I got to my room I shut the door behind me and quietly tiptoed towards my bed. I collapsed on the bed, breathing in the heavenly scent of fabric softener. I'd convinced Aro to have our things cleaned at least once a month, so the castle wouldn't seem so…old. And of course he gave in immediately as he always had. He practically considered me his own daughter—only I felt more like his own _property_…with some freedom…sometimes.

I ran my hand over the bed sheets, the rich butterscotch color always comforted—and pained—me although I'd always try not to think about why.

I lay on my bed all night. I always did this when I had nothing to do—pretend to sleep. No one really knew why. I did, of course—and everybody _heard_ me when I did.

At night, I liked to let the few memories I had of my human life drift through my mind. This always ended badly of course. I'd put my soft pillow over my face and dry sob for the rest of the night, wishing I could sleep the night away, just to forget about the pain—but of course I couldn't.

Tonight, was one of the worst nights I'd had in decades. The one memory that I'd tried to lock up for as long as possible finally escaped. And once I'd remembered it I couldn't stop myself from letting it go on…

_Year 2007:_

_My lip trembled, trying to hold back traitor tears, as I looked up at Edward. He looked sad but I was sure he wouldn't suffer too much this time. _

"_Edward," I whispered. "Please don't. You promised."_

"_Bella, you should know that sometimes I have to break promises," he whispered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away from my face unwillingly, but knowing that it was what I needed to do._

"_Please, don't do that. You're only going to make it harder," I said. He pulled his hand to his side but kept his eyes on my face, which was now tear-stained. Those damn tears! Why couldn't they stay in when I told them to!_

"_Isn't there another way?" I asked._

_He shook his head. "This is it, Bella. This is the only way. I'm doing this for you, I'm going away _for you_." _

_I sniffled and bit my lower lip. Edward was leaving…again. Even when he promised that he wouldn't go, even when he said he'd suffered when he was away. I was almost sure he wouldn't this time._

_I looked up at him, making my eyes look as wide and innocent as they'd go. "Will you come back?"_

_He bit his lip and thought hard. "I don't know, Bella,"—His eyes darted all over my room—"I'll try…but if worse comes to worse…" he paused for a second, obviously struggling with his words. "If worse comes to worse, Bella, please promise me you'll forget about me. I know it won't be easy but you have to try. Move on, Bella. Please promise me you'll try to do that…for me. Even if means seeing…that Jacob kid…or Newton…just…as long as you're happy,"—he grabbed my hand with both of his but I quickly pulled away—"please, promise me you'll try to move on and be as happy as possible."_

_I hardly had to think about that. "No," I said firmly._

"_Wha—" he began to say but I interrupted._

"_No. I'm not promising you anything, especially not _that_."_

"_I guess you're angry," he said._

"_No, Edward, I'm just peachy," I said as sarcastically as I could but my tears betrayed me. It was hard to look mad when I was so…hurt._

_He urgently looked over his shoulder, out my bedroom window._

"_I'm guessing you've got to go," I said._

_He looked at me apologetically. He leaned in and kissed my wet cheek, knowing that kissing the lips would be blowing this out of proportion. "I'm sorry and…don't forget that I'll love you for eternity…no matter what." And then he was gone. All I caught through my blurred vision was a flash of bronze hair go through my window._

_I didn't bother going to see him run away. I didn't want to give him the benefit of the doubt. _

_And I knew he wouldn't be coming back. But I waited…I waited every single day after that, holding on to the last teensy bit of hope I had. But he never came and realization that he _would_ never come finally sunk in one day…but that's another memory for another night._

Back to 2047:

I finally managed to pull myself out of my torturous memories. I chocked down some sobs by holding my breath.

I swung my legs off the bed and walked across my spacious room. I loved my room; it was really the only place I had that was mine. The walls were made of the same stone that most of the castle was and the ceilings were high. All my furniture was made of a light colored wood and it complimented well against the tan castle stones. A large black area rug in the middle of the room finished it all off. This was the only space in the entire castle that was truly mine. A place where I could stop pretended and be—dare I say—_Bella_ for a while.

My room had no windows overlooking the town but it did have a small skylight in the center of the ceiling. Some nights I'd move my bed to the center of the room and look up at the beautiful night sky; that always seemed to comfort me because I knew—well hoped—that Edward was out there somewhere looking at that same sky. Then I'd remember what he did to me and feel filled with hatred so I'd move my bed back against the wall.

I walked to the center of my room and looked up. It was just about to break dawn. I could see the sky turning from black to gray to purple. I decided to go up to the roof.

I ran out of my room and down the hall. I passed Heidi on the way and smiled, giving her a semi-wave, which she returned. Ever since the beginning of this new life I had, Heidi and I had gotten along well—but that was mostly because she was one of the only girls in the house that was kind of close to my age. She could be a real bitch at times—which reminded me a lot of a certain someone's prissy-sister who never had a liking for me in my human life—but I loved Heidi nonetheless. We practically treated each other like sisters—we practically _were_ sisters.

I ran to the end of the hall and opened the last door without even touching it with one of my many powers. Behind the door was a very narrow, very long spiral staircase—I kept running up the stairs, never losing my rhythm, with no problem. At the top of the stairs was a metal door, which practically smacks you in the face considering how sudden the staircase ends. I pushed the door open and stepped out into the cool morning breeze. I closed the door behind me with my power while I walked to the middle of the rooftop.

This was another place I had mostly to myself. Hardly anyone ever came up here but I love it. None of the humans down below could even have the slightest chance of seeing us, even if it was sunny up here. And since no planes or helicopters or any of that stuff flew over Volterra, there was no risk of exposure. The others still didn't like coming up here though. I never understood why.

I opened my arms out on my sides and spun around. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the air was cool. I breathed out a sigh of relaxation, trying to forget my old memories. I hated remembering because it seemed I could only remember the hurtful things these days, all my good memories had mostly faded by now. But I wouldn't want to forget them, because that would mean forgetting…_him_…and even though I felt I should forget about him already, I never wanted to. He obviously wasn't going to come in with shining armor and on a white horse and swoop me up to take me off forever like he 'promised' he'd do—my fairytale came to a painful end a _long_ time ago—but I never stopped hoping, which was a pathetic weakness of mine that I would _never_ let anyone see.

I slowly walked over to the ledge. The town was quiet and no one was out but I still kept my distance from the very ledge—I would have to kill _myself_, literally, if I exposed us like that.

The sun was coming up quickly so I sat down and enjoyed the disgustingly beautiful view. I watched as my skin slowly began glowing from the slight sunrays that hit me.

A thought then passed through my mind that made me want to gag. _Another day of my worthless life..._

* * *

_::sigh:: that's all for now folks! I know this brings up a lot of questions but Bella's recent past will be cleared up soon. And yes pretty much Edward had left…again and Bella has been a bit bitter for the past 40 years so if she seems mean…well she has her reasons. That's all I'll say for now._

_This story WILL be switching points of views a lot too so be ready to keep up. and review and tell me if I should continue._

_Until chapter 2 (lol),_

_sasha_


	2. Chapter 2

_to anyone thats waiting for an update for 'all my fault': well, i'll try to get chapter 2 up before i go back to school on wednesday. can't promise though. ive got a big english project due thursday but it will be up soon i promise!_

_I'm glad you all like my story ::big smiles:: okay so lets keep this authors note short cause I'm kind of known for writing ridiculously long authors notes cause I go on ranting (like now) all questions will be answered in further chapters…right now its time to hear from Edward._

* * *

…Chapter 2…

EPOV: 2047:

I ran fast and hard toward my old town, completely fueled by excitement, anxiousness, and fear of the scolding I'd get from my love. But I ran be that as it may. I was finally going to see Bella. After 40 long years I'd get to see her beautiful face once again.

I did worry though. I'd told her to move on, yes but now I regretted absolutely everything I told her. Why in the world would I have told her that she should see that stupid dog or even Newton? I wanted her to myself now. What were you _thinking_ Edward?

The aging 'Welcome to Forks' sign flew past me. I ran a little faster now. The energy bubbled up inside me.

I finally hit town and flew into the woods, not wanting to risk anyone seeing me. I ran all the way to the woods surrounding Bella's old home. I doubted she still lived there but maybe I could find out were she had gone.

I didn't waste any time. I hopped right up into her window, oh it's been a while since I'd done that but it felt as if I'd been hopping up into her window for the past 40 years.

Bella's room was completely empty. I could still catch the slightest of her smell. I had missed that smell. Everything was covered in dust. It looked as if no one had been in here in years.

And then I realized something. No one was in the house at all. I walked out of Bella's room and opened all the doors to every room upstairs. They all squeaked as if they hadn't been opened in a long time and all the rooms were caked in dust. All the furniture was taken out. The entire house felt so…_incomplete_.

I walked down the stairs, hoping to find something, anything, that would give me a clue to where Bella was. Downstairs was much like upstairs though.

After about half an hour in the house, I decided to leave. I wasn't going to find anything in here—but where? I decided to go through the front door. I closed the door behind me and then I saw an aged paper taped to the outside of the door. The top of the letter stated in big bold letters "FORECLOSED". I didn't read further.

I ran back into the woods. Surely there was someway I could find the information I needed. I slowed my pace when I heard a sound. Someone was in the woods with me, but I was too deep in by now for it to have been a human. No humans would dare come this deep in the forest. I came to a complete stop when I was suddenly face to face with Jacob Black.

He'd aged well and I couldn't help but be a tad envious to think that he was much older—and _bigger_—than me now.

"What are you doing here bloodsucker?" he snarled. He went to pounce on me, I quickly moved out of the way and he fell with a thump on the forest ground.

"I mean no harm, Jacob. I was just…well looking for someone…"

He got up and wiped the dirt off his pants. He looked down at me, his forehead creased with anger and…grief? I couldn't help but notice that he'd manage to control his anger and stop himself from transforming although he looked pretty angry.

His dark eyes were hard when he said, "Bella isn't here anymore."

I wasn't surprised he'd known who I was looking for. It was pretty obvious that she was the only person I'd come back to Forks to get. "Well do you know where she went?"

"She's not exactly anywhere I know of actually. She disappeared a long time ago and we're pretty sure she's dead."

I grabbed his shirt and pulled his face down to mine, growling. "Don't you dare ever say that! She's NOT dead. Now tell me, what do you mean she disappeared? When?" Venom literally covered every word that rolled of my tongue.

He took my hand and easily pulled it off his shirt. "Stupid kids," he mumbled.

"I'm not a kid! I'm older than you by nearly a century."

"Doesn't look that way to me," he teased, hovering over me. Then he tensed back up. "Bella disappeared a few months after you left her again. You should have seen her. She didn't do crap, it was worse than the first time. How could you leave her you stupid, brainless leech?!"

"You know very well I did it for _her_ this time…and we had a deal. You said you would protect her until I came back…"

_Year 2007:_

_I hopped into my car and started the ignition right away. While the others drove off to Seattle I needed to make a quick stop on the border of La Push. _

_A dry sob escaped from my lips. I'd just left Bella…alone…again. I hoped I could come back as soon as possible but I knew that I probably wouldn't. Every time I was with her I brought all the dangers of my kind with me. This wasn't safe anymore. _

_It was raining very hard outside and there were lots of burnt branches in the middle of the road but I got to the border fairly quickly. I stopped my car and stepped out. I knew the werewolves would catch my scent quickly and come soon. I stood waiting, leaning on the side of my car in the pouring rain. _

_The entire pack soon came. They growled and the young ones were at the verge of changing. I put both hands up innocently. "Please, I'm not here to fight. But…can I please talk to Jacob. Its sort of urgent."_

_Jacob looked over his shoulder at Sam. Sam nodded his head once and then signaled for the rest of the pack to go home. Jacob took a cautious step forward._

"_I'm leaving."_

"_What?" he asked, confused. "Why? Now I'm not complaining but I thought you said you couldn't do that. Or…did she wish you away?" _

'_Did she change her mind about you and she finally sees that I'm the better choice…' he thought._

_I growled. "No she did not change her mind. I have to leave. The Volturi are coming and they can't track _her_ so they're tracking me and my family. I supposed they figure she'd be with us. We have to leave or they will kill her."_

"_Hold up, the Volturi?" he asked, confused._

_I sighed, frustrated that I'd have to explain. "You can consider them sort of…the royal family of our kind. And they want Bella. The only way I can save her is by going away."_

"_Fine go. It's not really my problem, but what about Bella? You didn't have to see her the last time you guys left—"_

_I cut him off. "I know, I know. I'll try to come back for her but I can't exactly promise it…"_

"_I'll watch her…again. But…this Volturi thing. I don't think the pack can take them, I mean they _are_ the royal family or whatever."_

"_They won't be coming."_

"_Fine," he said. There was an edge to his voice that made me realize that he was trying not to transform. _

_I decided it was time to leave. I turned around and opened my car door. Before I stepped in I turned back around and put my hand on his shoulder. "Thank you," I whispered and then got in the car. _

_I heard him mutter something along the lines of "yeah whatever" before I started the engine and sped off._

Year 2047:

"I said that I couldn't promise we could take those stupid Volturi people," Jacob snarled. "They were a lot stronger than we thought. But we did try. Sam died protecting her."

I was taken aback. "So…the Volturi _did_ come anyway. Wait, what? You lost your pack leader?"

"Yeah, we lost him…and Bella ran away a few days later. You know how much devastation that caused the town? Probably not. People die around you all the time don't they? You're used to it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," I swallowed back sobs that were threatening to break lose. "So, the Volturi came, you fought. And then a few days later Bella ran away. What happened in between?"

"After the Volturi killed Sam? Well, they left. Guess they decided to look for her some other place."

"So they never saw her here?'

"Nope. They assumed we were fighting to protect our turf and they figured you wouldn't leave Bella in town full of werewolves."

"Did they ever find her?"

"No. After a year of searching everyone gave up, assumed she was dead. It broke Charlie's heart. We had a funeral service for her. Charlie hung himself the day after the funeral. He couldn't take it. And then the house,"—he nodded his head toward the direction I'd come from—"was foreclosed. No one ever bothered buying it. This…all this crap that happened after you left, it's really all your fault."

I swallowed. I was my fault. I left and the Volturi came anyway. It was my fault Sam died, my fault Charlie's dead, and it was my fault that Bella, the only love I'd ever have, was probably dead.

"Uh, thanks. Bye." I ran away. I wasn't sure where I would go but I needed some kind of place to think. Some place where I can prove that this was actually true. A place popped into my head that seemed perfect. The school. The may just still have Bella's records seeing as she never actually left.

It was Saturday so no one was in the school and it was pretty easy to break in. Forks was still a little town although today's society was advancing and little towns didn't depend on the farm business or what not much more. I liked that about Forks. It probably would be a little town for a long time. The school office didn't even have an alarm system.

I found the cabinets were they kept past student files. I found Bella's record easily being as it was so thin since it was incomplete. I opened it up and found that most of what was in her files were newspaper clippings. I quickly scanned through the headings, "Girl goes missing in Forks, Police believe ex-boyfriend may be suspect" _why would they think I'd be involved? Unless they thought she ran away to get me…_I quickly read through the article. _That's exactly what they thought._ "Police close the Swan case, Assumption: death", "Funeral service held at Forks cemetery, Case officially closed" this article had a school picture of Bella on the side. I slid my finger over it. She was so beautiful. I wish I could've seen her in person for one last time. "Respected police chief commits suicide out of grief". My hands began to shake violently. My mind tried to conceive the information. Bella was…dead.

I dropped the newspaper clippings back in Bella's folder. I flipped through some papers in side. Old report cards, paperwork, even a…_death certificate_. I choked back a sob. I found another picture of her, in color this time, and shut the folder immediately. I couldn't bear to see that face right now. I rolled the folder up and stuck it in my back pocket. _They won't notice if I take this._

I closed the file cabinet drawer silently and solemnly walked out of the office, holding back some dry sobs the entire way.

I finally broke into a run when I reached the forest edge. My feet led the way and the next thing I knew I was in front of Bella's grave in the Forks Cemetery.

Dirt and tall grass covered her tombstone. I quickly wiped it away. If my eyes could fill with tears they definitely would have.

I read out loud what was written. "Isabella Marie Swan, loving daughter-honorable student-caring friend" _'Best dang secret keeper on the face of the planet,'_ I thought. I decided to stop reading. Then it started to rain hard, it thundered furiously. _Oh how lovely._

I leaned down toward her grave and kissed the top.

"I love you," I whispered. My knees gave way and I collapsed in front of the grave. I let the sobs I'd been holding back finally come out. My head fell into my hands as I dry sobbed. I knew what I had to do then, I had to anger the Volturi and have myself killed. It was the only way Bella and I could ever be together again.

* * *

_So? What do you think? This chapter is kind of filler in way, its just Edward finding out Bella's "dead". Well he's in for a surprise dontcha think? Next we'll hear from Bella and yes, you will find out her powers and why she's special to the Volturi and what not…_

_till next time,_

_sasha_


	3. Chapter 3

_I somehow found time in my hectic schedule of studying for finals in an OCD-manner to update ::shrugs:: I don't even wanna know _how

* * *

…Chapter 3…

BPOV: 2047:

A few days after that dreadful memory, I was sitting back up on the rooftop. The sun had just set and the sky had an odd purplish color to it.

As I looked up at the colorful sky, I mindlessly hummed a tune to myself. I liked to watch the sky change colors when I had the time. Then I suddenly realized what I'd been humming.

"Dammit," I muttered. I had been my lullaby. I wasn't humming it very good—unlike someone I used to know—but the fact that I had been humming that particular tune angered me.

I couldn't believe that after everything that's happened, all the pain, and all the time that has past that I could still feel something for Edward. I winced. I never even liked to think his name. It all hurt too much.

Because of Edward I'm practically broken, like there's something wrong with me or I'm missing pieces. Even though I waited for him like an idiot for months when I was human, when the Volturi came for me and I came back to Italy with them I made a deal with myself. I'd never love again. Never again would I be such a fool and fall for someone the way I did. I've honored that deal since the moment I moved in.

I was pulled away from my thoughts when I suddenly felt something touch my shoulder. I jumped around and put my hands in fists in front of me as a sign of defense. I sighed in relief when I saw that it was only Aro.

"Oh," I breathed. "Its just you, what's up?"

He gave me a soft laugh. "I figured I'd find you up here." He walked over to the edge and sat. I did the same.

I always felt so much more comfortable around Aro. He was the one who ended my misery—and started a whole new one. But he did save me nonetheless.

_2007:_

_Remember when I said that the day I realized Edward would never come back for me was a memory for another time? Well, now's that time._

_For months I stared out my window, waiting. It broke everyone's heart to see me like this again. It wasn't too bad though because I knew Edward left for a reason, I knew he still loved me. Every morning I'd wake up expecting Edward to be right at my bedside, smiling down at me. But he never was. Every afternoon when I got out of school, I expected Edward to be waiting for me with his Volvo. Every night I expected him to hop in through my window and hum me to sleep. But he would never ever come._

_I think that maybe if I hadn't held on to the last shred of hope I had and just let go that maybe I wouldn't be so screwed up now. Hmph…guess it's too late for that isn't it?_

_One day, a few months after Edward left, I was closing up at the Newton's shop. I locked the door and turned to see the Volturi right in front of me. _

_Now, I knew the Volturi had come a few days ago. They fought with the werewolves and Sam died. I felt bad; for it was pretty much my fault they were caught in this mess. I thought they had gone away though, thought they decided to go back to whatever they were doing before this entire thing started. I thought wrong._

"_Ah, Bella," Aro said lifting my chin. A tear dropped from my eye. To see the faces from my past hurt too much because these were the faces of a past with Edward—who was gone now. "Nice to see you again."_

_I decided to keep a game face on. I wiped the tears from my eyes and stood up straight. "Likewise," I said. "Edward isn't exactly around but I'll tell him you dropped by next time I see him."_

"_Oh, cut the crap," Felix said from behind Aro. _

"_Now, now Felix. Be nice. But yes Bella we do know you're lying."_

_My game face faded. What was the point? They knew. "Well what do you want?" I whimpered, sounding as pathetic as I felt. _

"_You betrayed our deal!" Jane said fiercely. "You must pay for your actions. That Edward of yours promised that he'd change you and you're not exactly the vampire, now are you? "_

_That hurt to hear. Becoming a vampire, something I _wanted_. What was the point in becoming one now? I could care less. "Fine," I said. The entire group was taken aback._

"_Do you not cherish your life?" Demetri snarled with confusion. _

"_Not anymore."_

_Aro grabbed my elbow. He looked concerned. "So the boy left and now you feel as if your life is over?"—I nodded, he smiled—"lovely! Its like a real love story!" I looked up at him disgusted. "This will be easier than I thought," he said to Jane. _

"_Look if your going to kill me _please_ just get it over with."_

_He turned around to the others. "Go wait in the car. I'll be there soon." He turned back to me. Aro clapped his hands together in delight. _

_I sighed in frustration. I hated playing little games like this._

"_What would you say if I told you, you could still become one of us?" he asked._

_I looked up at him cautiously. I chose my words carefully. "Who said I wanted that anymore?"_

"_That's it," he said throwing his hands up in the air. "The boy leaves and you feel there's no purpose for anything? No, no, no." _

_He lifted my face with one hand once more. "You," he breathed. "You are much, much more special. You can do great things as one of us. What do say?"_

_I looked up at him confused. "You want to…join…"_

"_The Volturi my dear!" he finished for me. For a moment there I almost gave in. but couldn't do that…to Edward._

"_I don't know…what if…he…comes back and I'm not here?"_

"_No. Don't think like that Isabella. He's not here now, is he?"—I shook my head no—"and in your time of need too. It's disgusting. How could you still love him after he left you to deal with all this? He obviously doesn't love you as much as we thought."_

_Finally, something in my mind clicked. He—Edward—wasn't coming back for me. I wasn't going to wake up or come out of school or go to bed and he'd suddenly appear. He should have came back by now. It's been months. Why was I waiting for someone who wasn't planning on coming? It made no sense at all. And so what if he didn't come back? I _wasn't_ going to spend the rest of my life getting old and waiting for him to come around. I needed to do what I wanted to do…and I wanted to become a vampire now._

_I looked up at Aro. I'd just had an epiphany, I knew what I wanted—and Edward wasn't included in my plans._

_Aro saw it all in my eyes. He offered his hand and I took it gratefully._

2047:

And now Aro was like a father to me. He wasn't such a bad guy either, none of us were. So what if we drank human blood? That's what vampires do! We can't all be veggie-headed, peace-to-the-world singing vampires! And that was that.

As the years went by I proved myself useful to the Volturi. My powers weren't discovered until about three years after I changed. I still remember how unbelievably confusing and frightening that night was…

_2010:_

_I sat on the edge of my bed, my foot tapping nervously. I didn't want to go on a date—and wouldn't if I truly had the choice—but Aro insisted. I was practically being forced out on this date._

_Why would I want to go? I was still utterly in love with Edward; Aro knew that. But he figured that if I got out more often that I'd get over it…yeah, only in my wildest daydreams. In the end, of course, Aro won. Well I suppose it's worth trying. Maybe it _would_ help me forget about Edward and everything I left behind…for a little while._

_So now, I waited for my date to arrive. Aro would not even tell me who exactly my date was! All he said was, "He's a young vampire from a very respectable coven. You'll like him, I give you my word, Isabella." I scowled at the memory. I wouldn't like him the way Aro was expecting. He should know by now that it was too late for things like _that_ to happen to _me

_I small knock on my door tore me away from my thoughts. I stood up so fast I hopped up into the air a little bit. He was here, my date. I was excited and nervous and regretful all at the same time. I walked to the door slowly, wasting as much time as possible._

_I put my hand on the doorknob, took a deep breath, and swung the door open. I let a little gasp escape my lips. _

_He was strikingly handsome—not compared to someone else I once knew, but handsome nonetheless. His hair was nearly the same color as mine and it fell over his crimson eyes perfectly. I couldn't help to notice that he was dressed very neatly too, in a black button down shirt with a red shirt under it that matched his eyes and simple blue jeans. He looked a bit nervous—as was I—as he stared down at his shoes._

_He stuck his hand out towards me, never taking his eyes off his shoes. I shook his hand and then we stood there awkwardly for a couple of seconds. From the corner of my eye, I saw Aro, Jane, and Demetri looking around the hallway corner at us. When Aro saw me looking he made a hand gesture as if telling me to say something._

_I cleared my throat. "Um…I'm Isabella." At the sound of my voice, he looked up and gawked at me. I looked at him, confused and embarrassed._

"_I'm…uhh…has anyone ever told you you're beautiful." I smiled sheepishly. Yes, I'd heard it once or twice—from _every_ male member of the Volturi._

"_Thank you," I said the least bit embarrassed. "Your name is…"_

_He snapped out of his little daze. "Oh, uhh, Finn. My name's Finn."_

"_Nice to meet you Finn," I said quietly. We stood there in uncomfortable silence once again. Thankfully, Aro came to save the night._

"_Ahh, Finn my son. _You_ take care of our little Isabella tonight," Aro said and gave him a little reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Where will you two be going anyway?"_

_Of course Aro knew where we'd be going; he'd called my date to make sure everything was perfect and never told me anything. I supposed he was trying to start conversation between us now._

"_We're going to the '__Sanguinare__'," was Finn's answer. That name rang a bell. The '__Sanguinare__' was a club for vampires. None of the humans ever found out about it because the only way to get to it was through the tunnels beneath the ground, which no human even knew about. Heck, the entire club was underground!_

_Aro smiled. "Ha! That brings me back to my younger days!" I giggled. Aro hadn't grown a day older for centuries, but I got what he meant. _

"_Well then," Aro said, taking my hand and Finn's hand and entwining them together. Finn and I looked down at our hands, then at each other, and then we both looked away embarrassed. "You two go along," Aro coasted. And with that he left. _

_Finn and I unraveled our hands and I looked at Finn apologetically. "I'm so sorry," I said. _

_Finn looked down at his shoes and then up at me through his lashes. It reminded me of someone but I stopped thinking any further. I didn't want to spoil the night by sulking over someone of my past. " 'S okay," he said. "We should go though…"_

_The night went well after that. We both soon forgot about our nerves. I rarely had been outside the castle since I came here three years ago. It was so exciting to finally get out—although the underground tunnels sort of _belonged_ to the castle, I was glad to get out of the main part of it._

_At the '__Sanguinare__' they pretty much just served human blood in pretty cocktail glasses—which was ironic considering the name of the place, but what else were we to drink? —and there was music to dance to. Although I thought I'd rather not go on this date, I had a lot of fun. Finn was actually a great guy. He even decided to walk me back to my room at the castle…_

"…_So since then, I've just kind of always had telekinesis," he said as he explained his power to me. He was even demonstrating. He had taken a lighter out of his pocket and was floating it in the air a couple of feet ahead of us._

"_That's so cool," I said, I tiny bit jealous. "I wish I had a power…"_

_Finn touched my arm, seeing my disappointment. "Sometimes it just takes time for a power to develop," he assured me. Finn was so sweet. He'd make a great F-R-I-E-N-D. "…And other times you could have had it all along but never noticed it"—his lighter floated back to us, he grabbed it and put it back in his pocket—"like me."_

_I sighed. We were standing in front of my bedroom door. It had been a long night but of course I wasn't tired. It was one in the morning, I knew the date had to end, but I didn't want to stop talking to Finn. I felt comfortable around him. _

"_I guess this is good night?" I said. _

_He looked at my closed bedroom door, then at me, and then back at the door. I got the hint._

"_Don't even think about it." I laughed, but I laughed a sincere laugh so he wouldn't get offended. I didn't want to hurt him. I leaned in towards his ear with _real_ hope in what I was saying next—yeah it even surprised me. "Maybe another time though," I whispered so only he would hear. _

_He smiled. "Another time?" he asked optimistically. I nodded my head once. It was a flat-out lie—what I was promising him—but I did want to see him again, so I had to lie._

_We stood at my doorway, not saying anything—which got a bit awkward. I looked up at him using my eyes to tell him that it was time for him to go now. He got it._

"_Well, good night Isabella," he whispered, slowly inching his face towards mine. Although I didn't want to lead him on that way, I didn't stop him. His lips finally reached mine and he put both of his hands on either side of my face. I kissed him back too. We didn't get very deep into the kiss though—which I was sort of grateful for until I realized why. Finn froze under lips. I pulled away quickly and alarmingly. He didn't move and he suddenly dropped to the floor._

_I kneeled down at his side. "Finn?" He didn't respond. "Finn wake up." I gave him a light slap on the side of his face. He still didn't move._

_Heidi, who oh-so-obviously had been listening in her room across the hall, came out. She crept over to my side and put a hand on my shoulder. "What did you do to him?" she questioned._

"_I—I don't know."_

_Aro suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Isabella, how was your d—" he stopped short when he saw Finn on the ground beside me. He flew to the other side of Finn and knelt down across from me. He quickly looked over Finn and then looked up at Heidi._

"_He's dead," Heidi said, completely stunned. _

"_What?!" I couldn't comprehend. One minute he was kissing me good night and the next he's…dead! "How? Why?"_

"_Isabella…" Aro looked at me with joy and fear in his eyes. "I think _you_ did it to him."_

_My brain completely shut down at that moment. How could I have done it? It didn't make sense. I was angry and upset and _confused_ all at the same time._

_Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming toward me from behind._

"_What's all the ruckus?" the person, whom I recognized to be Felix, asked. I was still so confused…I turned around just in time to see a vase crash into Felix's head. _

_No one had thrown that vase. No one was in the halls but the four of us and Finn. And none of us could just _move_ things with our mind…except Finn…who was dead. _

_I turned around back to the others._

"_Ow," Felix complained from behind me._

_I looked at Finn. _Finn_ could move things with his mind, _I_ kissed him, now _he's_ dead and things are just spontaneously _flying_ across the room. He couldn't have done it, unless _I_…Suddenly, everything clicked together into one horrible discovery. _

_I looked up at Aro. Fear showed on my face. "I think I just figured out what my power is…"_

2047:

And that was it folks! My 'amazing' power—or at least that's what Aro and Marcus and Caius called it. I personally hated it.

After that little incident, Aro started hooking me up with all the _useless_ vampires he knew who had _useful_ powers. So in the end, I got all these powers that aren't mine and killed a bunch of guys while I was at it. I didn't really care for those guys though. I wish I could just control my power sometimes. I wish I could just kiss one guy without killing him and taking his powers…but I had no clue how. I hadn't taken anybody's powers in a while though.

Aro thought about having me kiss Demetri a few years ago, he thought it'd be useful to have another tracker in the guard. I really didn't want to and Demetri threw a big fit—and I mean _big_. He threw himself on the floor of the feeding room and pounded his fists hard against the stone floor, which left damages of course, yelling "I DON'T WANNA KISS ISABELLA! I WANNA _LIVE_!" He looked like a big six-year-old. I sat back and laughed throughout his entire fit because I would have never agreed to it, Demetri was my friend; I'd never do that to him. I guess he thought otherwise.

About two years after we discovered my power and I obtained many powers from meaningless strangers, Aro made me part of the guard. I actually became one of the most important parts of the Volturi. After another couple of years I became a hunter for the Volturi. I worked with Heidi, who was actually a nice person…most of the time. And when a vampire broke the rules, I was the one they usually sent out to kill them. It was a simple task. Heidi did it sometimes but they usually sent me; I got the job done with no nonsense.

Sometimes my conscience would catch up with me and I'd feel the teensiest bit bad for all the guys I'd killed…especially Finn. He would have been a great friend although he was obviously hoping for more. Sometimes I wish I could go back and stop myself from letting him kiss me. If I'd never kissed him I would've never found out about this sick power—okay maybe I would've _eventually_ but I could have at least spared Finn. It was too late now, don't you think?

Now I sat with Aro up on the roof.

"So…" I said to Aro. "Did you need me to do something?"

He nodded his head. He seemed to be thinking very hard about what he was to say next. "I've got another trouble maker for you."

That wasn't very interesting to me; I had to kill a 'trouble maker' at least once a month. "Mmm…okay. What did they do?"

"Lifted a car above his head and threw it against a wall…right here in Volterra." I'd heard about that idiot. How could he be that stupid…to commit his crime right here in Volterra? I'd have fun beating some sense into him.

Aro took something out of his pocket and put it face down in the space between us. What was wrong with him? He seemed so…quiet…and a tad sad.

"Is that…" I started for the paper.

"Yup," he said. "That's him." I picked up the paper. It was a simple picture. The minute I saw the face on it I dropped picture as if it were dripping with poison.

I quickly stood up and began running over to the door to get off the roof, trying to get to my room before I broke down completely right now. "Maybe Heidi should take this one," I called over my shoulder.

I ran at a super fast speed—a power I'd taken from a guy named Nathan. I didn't like _him_ very much, so I never felt bad about using _that_ power—towards my room.

When I reached my room I slammed my door loudly behind me. I couldn't even work up the strength to go to my bed; that one picture brought every single one of my worst memories rushing back into my head. Everything suddenly became extremely overwhelming and my knees gave way under me; I collapsed in the middle of my room. I brought my head into my hands as a loud dry sob shook through my body.

"Edward," I whispered so quietly that _I_ couldn't even hear myself.

* * *

_Some key points you should know just in case you're a bit confused…_

-Sanguinare_ is Italian for 'to bleed'. I think the name was appropriate for the club._

_-Yes i am upset cause i finally get to own a character (finn) and he dies! I felt really bad to kill him even though i created him to die. And if you dont like the name finn: to bad! I love that name._

_-Bella's power: pretty much she kisses a guy (and even girls, not that she ever tried that) and they die and she takes their power. She doesnt mean to killl them but she also doesnt really care about those people either cause theyre stangers, you know? You could call them..._one night stands

_-Yes, the picture aro gave to bella was edward. _He_ was the idiot who threw the car at the wall in volterra. And now its bella's job to teach him a lesson...which she's _obviously_ in no condition to do._

_Hope you liked the chapter! I took a while to update and for that I am truly sorry. Finals are just around the corner and I'm just completely overwhelmed with trying to cram half a year's worth of information in seven classes into my head in the next week, then I've got essays to write and those stupid last minute project teachers like to assign just before school ends, I have to read an entire boring book for English by Monday (which sucks because I'm in the middle of reading the maximum ride series which I _will_ finish before I start the book for English, yeah, I'm stubborn like that…), then the project for that book is due the next day, and then we've got a graded book discussion the day after that! So I am overwhelmed with stuff to do and I'm freaking out with all these finals. I'll _try_ to get an update out soon though._

_Thanks for reading! I'm glad you all likey,_

_Sasha_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey, so yes I know that this update took me awhile but hopefully summer will give me some kind of inspiration to write everyday. My finals start tomorrow so really today was my last official day of school, now its four days of finals and then I'm out! Woohoo! This summer I gonna have to work my ass off too cause I want to tryout for tennis in august so I'm gonna need to practice, practice, practice. _

_**Something I'd like to clarify…**__ in the last chapter someone mentioned something about one of Bella's powers. ::cough::WhiteTwitch::cough:: Here's the quote she was talking about __**"**_I ran at a super fast speed—a power I'd taken from a guy named Nathan. I didn't like _him_ very much, so I never felt bad about using _that_ power—towards my room.**" **_okay. so what im saying is that bella has the power to run REALLY fast, like faster than regular vamps._

* * *

…Chapter 4… 

One more dry sob erupted from my chest, and then it was all over. No more sobs. No more thoughts of what was to come the second I stepped out of my room—my safe haven. I completely blocked everything out.

I had made a promise to myself a while back and I wasn't going to break that promise now, even if seemed like the walls I'd built to protect myself from Edward were caving in on me.

"Never again," I whispered with as much force and passion in my voice as I could conjure up at the moment.

I stood up and looked around. My entire scene lasted nearly two minutes—not even that—but I still felt like a big weenie for showing my feelings so easily like that. It was a stupid mistake that I needed to correct soon. I cautiously walked over to my bed. I sat and looked at my feet for a moment.

There was a small knock at my door; I made no move to answer it. The door opened a tiny bit and someone came and sat next to me on the bed.

"Are you okay?" the voice that had asked the question startled me.

I finally looked over at the person, shocked. _"Jane?" _I asked. Now let me explain something to you: I never—even now that she was sort of my family—really liked Jane. Her and her power really creeped me out sometimes. She reminded me of one of those cute little girls that seem too cute to be true, then you turn your back to them for a second and they jam a knife into your leg. Yeah, I thought of Jane as one of those little girls—except more lethal. And Jane wasn't too fond of me either. After Aro discovered my power, he got a new favorite—me. And that left Jane out on the sidelines kicking up dust with her little Mary Jane shoes. Aro still loved her to death—or whatever it was us vampires do after this life—but she was his second favorite now. And let me tell you, Jane doesn't take second place very well.

"_Are you okay?"_ she asked again, I could tell she was irritated. I quickly nodded my head, not wanting to anger her though I was still immune to her power. Like I said, she was one scary little girl. She continued her questioning, "Is this about that idiot, Edw—I mean, _him_?"

I nodded quickly again. "He's…sort of back—in the literal sense."

"Want me to open a can of mind torture on him for you?" Jane asked with an evil little grin on her face. I shook my head no. Jane glared at me for a while, seeming a little bit—sorry for me?

I started feeling slightly uncomfortable under Jane's glare. "I'll be fine," I said, obviously ending the conversation. Jane got up and left silently. Although I still felt uneasy around Jane—and it been 40 years! —I was glad. She was the first one I spoke with.

Yes, I said _first_, meaning others came and went as news of Edward spread. Everyone in the house remembered how madly in love Edward and I were in, they remembered that we'd give our lives for each other…they remembered how messed up I was when they had found me after he had left. So when they found out Edward was back, they all knew I'd be…_really_ messed up, to put it lightly.

Demetri and Felix came and tried to cheer me up by telling horrible, outdated (by at least a century or two!) jokes. Marcus and Caius came and told me that I was too strong for this, that I shouldn't show my obviously ultimate weakness so easily. Heidi came and offered to take the Edward job. And finally, Aro came but not exactly bearing the words of comfort I wanted to hear.

"You _have_ to take this Isabella." Aro's words were spoken sharply and forcefully towards me. He was pertaining to me being the one to "punish" Edward.

"Seriously Aro, Heidi said she'd take it."

"No," Aro said firmly. "_You_ need to face _your own_ demons."

"What exactly are you implying Aro? That if I get rid of…_him_…that all of a sudden the pain, the memories, _everything_ will just disappear? Newsflash! It'll probably just get worse!" My anger was rising and I didn't want that to happen because then I would feel out of control, which would get my powers—_every single one of them_—out of control, which without a doubt would NOT be good.

I took a few deep, concentrating breaths, holding two fingers at each of my temples, and squeezed my eyes shut. After a few silent moments, I looked up at Aro. He looked pretty angry himself.

"_Please_ don't make me do this," I pleaded in an innocent tone and making my eyes go as wide as saucers.

He looked confused for a second there—another nifty power I had. Persuasion—and then shook his head quickly from side to side, breaking out of his little daze.

"What have I told you about using that on me?" he warned sternly, almost parental-like.

"Sorry Aro," I said, still working my magic on him and puffing my bottom lip out a bit. "Sometimes I don't even realize I'm using it on someone." Which was true…sometimes. But right _now_, I was fully aware that my persuasion was being put to work on Aro.

"No," Aro said, sounding weary. "Now I'm not stopping you from just giving the job to Heidi,"—'_Yes! I win this match!' _I thought to myself—"But if you want to move on, you have to do this. There is no crime if you destroy the evidence."

And with that, Aro left, giving me loads to think about.

* * *

_Yay! That was chapter four. I hope you liked it although it was very short compared to my first three…_

_Okay so today, WhiteTwitch and I were in the library at lunch today and I was talking about Finn. She said something like: 'wow. You talk about him like you know him.' Well, that's when I kind of realized that I missed writing about Finn. I love him to death. He was made as an introduce then throw away character but when I wrote his part I got sort of connected to him cause he's my character and I knew exactly what was running through his mind throughout the entire date. So I decided that I'm gonna write a one shot of that date in Finn's point of view! It'll be a little more in detail about the date and you'll now what he was feeling for Isabella, trust me once you read it you'll feel bad that he died. And don't be surprised if write a story and you see him in it. lol. just thought I'd give you the heads up but that one shot wont be up till this weekend being the earliest. _

_Thanks for reading and don't forget to review and tell what you think about my one shot idea…for Finn's sake…and for personal and enjoyment of course…_


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

…Chapter 5…

Okay, first things first, did I _want_ Edward dead? _Did_ he love me anymore? Sure, sure he said he loved me when he left but he didn't exactly come back for me. And if he didn't come back, why would he love me? He's probably gotten over me by now. But _I_ never really got over _him_.

I don't even think I'll ever get over Edward. Sure years and years will pass and one day most of my memories of him shall fade, but my heart, the love I feel for him will never fade. I'll always love him even if he'll never love me back again.

But then again, even if I will always love him, I will never love him the way I had before. Even if, by some miraculous stretch of luck, Edward did still love me, I probably wouldn't take him back. Yes, I'd want to take him back, but I can't. He'd just hurt me again.

So, would I rather have him alive—or dead? He did break the rules though. Just because I know him doesn't make him am exception to the rules. We all knew him, but he has to pay for his actions.

How could he be so stupid too? What would make him throw a car at a wall…in Volterra? Has he gone insane?

I suppose he must die. What is it that humans say? Oh yes, 'If you can't do the time, don't do the crime' or something like that.

I sighed. Why does this have to be so difficult? Why am I even thinking about any of this? Edward will die; I can't go against Aro's word. I can't save him. He brought this upon himself—upon _me_.

I was suddenly overwhelmed with anger. How could he? I feel deeper in this mess than he'll be. He's ruining my life—_again_! He deserved to die. I love him but if he lives on he'll probably just ruin some other poor girl's life.

But…I don't have the guts to kill him myself. That's something that I know is true, will never admit to anyone, and the whole household probably already knows. Heidi can do it, she can do whatever her little heart desires to him. I couldn't care less.

I got up, fixing myself up so I could go hang out in the feeding room. One thing good about being a vampire is that I never cry. I never have to deal with the wet face and puffy, red eyes—I shuddered—after I broke down. I cleared my throat and walked over to my door. I swung it open only to be startled by what was on the other side.

"Holy crap, Heidi. You scared me," I said.

She put her hand on my shoulder and led me back into my room.

"Are you okay now?" she asked, almost sisterly. I sighed. I'd heard that question one too many times in the past hour. "Am I supposed to take that as a yes?" she asked. I sighed again, only this time with a little smile.

"I'm fine," I whispered.

"You still want me to…err…take the Edward job for you?"

"Please and thank you," I said.

"No problem, I'll go get ready. Aro wants the 'delinquent' off the street of his 'kingdom',"—she laughed, and I even joined along a bit. Aro swore he ruled the city sometimes—"you can come along and watch if you want."

I shook my head. "I'd rather not."

Heidi shrugged. "Suit yourself. I think I'm going to have a little fun with him first. He's cute." And that was _so_ Heidi. She always brought her victims into the castle if they were cute. She very rarely 'got together' with any of them though—but I'm not denying that she has with some. Poor guys. One minute they're 'getting some' and the next there dead. She usually just gives them a little tour of the castle and the poor guy would be like 'Ooh' and 'Ahh', then she'd lock them up in a room and finished him off. That's why I was the one Aro usually sent. I got the job done quickly; Go in, kill the guy, get out.

I groaned. "_Please_, if you're going to do _that_, give me the heads up before you come in with him." She laughed again.

"Of course," she said and left. I decided not to go to the feeding room when she left. Heidi would be back soon with Edward and I'd rather not see him before he dies. Actually I'd just rather not see him at all. I decided to stay in my room and lock the door to wait it out.

About an hour later I heard fighting in the hallways.

"Why don't you just do what I tell you to do?!" I heard Heidi yell. "I'm trying to make the last minutes of your life _fun_. Why don't you just cooperate? That's it! Forget it! I'll just kill you and get it over with,"—I heard Heidi stomping into her room, probably to get her things to kill someone—"Isabella was right, you are an asshole!" and then I heard Heidi's door slam shut.

"Bella…" I heard a musical voice whisper from outside. I knew that voice. My legs yearned to run out my door, jump up into his arms, and dry sob into his shoulder. But I couldn't, I was stronger than that. Edward had a price to pay when he left me—the price was _me_. He made his choice forty years ago and now I was making mine. _I_ didn't want him.

But I was curious. I mean, _Edward_ was standing in the hall right out my door. Edward. I suddenly found myself walking towards my door. Maybe if I just take a quick look…No I can't. But…

My hand touched my doorknob and I gripped it tightly. I opened the door the tiniest bit and gasped. There he was. Edward. That face…the one I loved and hated, the one I grieved and wanted dead. He was standing right there, in my hallway, awaiting his death.

He spun around to see me. Dammit. He must have heard my gasp. He looked confused.

"Great, just great," he said. "Now I'm hallucinating." I giggled. Why would he think that? I opened the door a bit more, deciding to mess with him a little. He mind as well enjoy his moment of, what he thought was, insanity. Little did he know it was I. But then I realized what I was doing wrong. I shouldn't even be looking out here! I hated him; he doesn't love me. What was the point?

But despite my thoughts, I stepped out into the hall, suddenly feeling bad for him. Yes, I loved him. Yes, he's supposed to die. But…I couldn't do it. I couldn't just leave him out here to die.

_Edward, Edward, Edward_.

I couldn't do it.

_I'm still in love with you._

He still didn't believe what he was seeing. I couldn't believe what I was about to do.

_Edward_.

I heard Heidi walking towards her door. She was coming back! And she'd kill Edward. I couldn't. I wouldn't. Edward had to live. If he died, my heart, my soul, _everything _I had, died with him. I'm incomplete without Edward here, on this planet. He may not be _with_ me, but if he was gone and my memory of him had mostly faded, I'd think that I'd just wished it all. I would think the entire thing we had would never had happened.

_Edward_.

Even though he may not love me now, at least I know that at some point in time, he _did_ love me. I'd know that he had held _me_ close when I was terrified. I'd know he _had_ protected me the best he could. I loved him; I couldn't deny it. I truly did love him—almost like he had never left me. Almost—but he, _no one_, would _ever _know that.

"Edward…" I whimpered so softly only he would hear me. Recognition crossed his features. He was still the absolute most gorgeous being that I remembered him as but something was different…he looked…_broken_. Like pieces of him were gone. And I was one hundred percent sure I looked exactly the same for the past forty years.

"Bella?" he asked quietly. He looked so hurt, like he was praying that this wasn't some sick joke his mind was playing on him. Bella—even to think the name it hurt. No one had called me that since he left me…

_2007:_

_Edward had just left me. Why would he do it? He said he loved me. He said he'd protect me. But how was going to do _any_ of that if he was gone? Nothing made sense anymore._

_If it's possible to be so distraught, so completely troubled that no tears came, then that was where I was. I knew my tears would not bring Edward back so what was the point of wasting them. He wasn't coming back. I knew that. _

_I hoped that one day I could see him again. That I could just run up to him and jump into his awaiting arms. Even if it was…I don't know, _forty years_ from now, I would still want him, love him, and need him. I'd take him back eagerly with no doubt._

_I eventually fell asleep and sometime while I was sleeping Charlie came home from work._

_The next morning I woke up, lifeless. I walked down the stairs like some kind of dead person. I felt a lot like I had the first time Edward left. Charlie sat in the kitchen eating breakfast and drinking coffee as he read the newspaper. I walked in and sat across the table from him. He looked up apologetically. _

"_I'm sorry kiddo," Charlie said, sincerity rang in every word that slipped off his tongue. "I'm really sorry. I knew he was no good for you, I saw this coming." Of course Charlie knew the Cullens were gone. In a town as small as Forks, news like that travels fast. _

_I didn't respond. I just looked down at my hands, which were lying limply on the kitchen table. Charlie reached across the table and grabbed one of my hands with both of his. _

"_Your going to be alright though, right Bella?"_

"_Isabella," I corrected softly._

"_What was that Bells?" Charlie asked, glad to hear me talking._

"_Charlie, my name is Isabella. Now please, can you just call me that from now on? I never want to hear Bella,"—I winced—"again. Just call me by my real name please?"_

_Charlie looked confused and hurt. He'd called me that practically my whole life. But I never wanted to hear it again. "Sure, Be—Isabella." Charlie got up and put his dishes in the sink, and then he walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Hold in there kid. Don't do anything drastic. Its not the end of the world."_

_Oh, little did he know it was. It was the end of _my_ world—Bella's world._

2047:

Heidi touched her doorknob on the other side of her door. I acted on a whim, something stupid to do anytime. Why I was doing this? I don't even know. Edward deserved to die. He broke the rules. I knew that I was going to pay for this but couldn't stop myself.

I grabbed Edward's hand and ran him down the hall as fast as I could. He stumbled behind me, obviously struggling with keeping up considering how fast I was going. I ran him to a door, using my power I threw it open and kept running through. I finally stopped at the beginning of the castle's underground tunnels.

"Go," I whispered harshly.

"Bella, I can't believe…I mean…is it…Bella I—"

"GO!" I pushed him toward the tunnels and he stumbled back a few steps and fell backwards. He gave me a confused look, oblivious to the fact that I was now stronger than him—yeah, another nifty power I snatched up. I could have the strength of five vampires in one when my emotions get out of control. I had problems with that when I first got it but I managed to get it controlled—until now.

Edward got up and walked over to me but I turned and ran away. There, I'd saved him. What else could he want from me? I ran down the hall towards the door that led to the roof. I practically flew up the stairs and emerged outside on the rooftop. It was pouring rain but I was glad to get some fresh air. I heard Edward coming up the stairs leading to the roof but kept walking towards the edge, silently cursing myself for saving him at all.

Suddenly, Edward grabbed my hand and spun me around to look at him. I couldn't speak. _Edward_ was touching me.

"Bella…Bella, I'm sorry…for everything. I lo—" I put a single finger to his lips stopping him from saying the three words I'd love and hate to hear.

"Please," I pleaded. "_Please_ just go." His eyes showed that he was hurt by words, but that's what they were supposed to do, hurt him. It was dark and the rain made it hard think about what was happening. In fact, I was trying so hard concentrating on thinking all of this through that I hadn't seen his face inching its way towards mine. His lips merely grazed mine before I pushed him back.

"Are you crazy?!" I shrieked. "Do you really want to die that bad? Edward! Just…go away. _Please_."

I could now hear the others talking just inside. Edward needed to go or they'd find us and we'd probably both be killed.

"Bella I—"

"No," I said harshly. My words even hurt me. "Now go or I'll have to kill you myself!"

"But—"

"Edward," I hissed, pleading with him. "How many times do I have to tell you to GO?" I shoved him but I was so…_out of control_…that I shoved him too hard. I stumbled back, his eyes full of sorrow the entire way, and tripped back over the edge of the roof. I ran over to grab him but it was too late, he'd fallen over the edge.

* * *

_Ohh, I'm evil aren't I. wow I think this is one of my best chapters yet. Yay! The next chapter will probably be this entire encounter in Eddie's point of view. I'll try to get it up before Wednesday (Edward's birthday for those of you who don't know! And it's the first day of summer vacation for me) so watch out for that! And if I'm in a good mood I'll post the next next chapter with it!_

_Don't forget to review and yell at me for putting such a bad cliffie! Edward is falling of a freaking building for god's sake! You know you want the next chapter ASAP…_


	6. Chapter 6

_HAPPY EDWARD'S BIRTHDAY EVERYONE::does little dance to celebrate::_

_Weee! I'm officially out of school and now I'm a sophomore…well almost but you know what I mean...or do you? Believe it or not I was kind of sad I mean, I liked some of my teachers, and my locker is in the perfect spot (although it's a bottom locker, ugh), and the entire year I had my bus stop all to myself, which I enjoyed, but next year I have to share it with some loser freshmen :( but I suppose I'll just have to make the best of it._

_Believe it or not, you guys are lucky you got an update, I'm reading this new series, Private by Kate Brian. They are SOOO good, oh my god. I bought the first three Sunday night and started the first one two days ago on the bus to school and finished the first when school ended yesterday (that's around 11:40am). Actually the book was distracting me while I was taking my very important Spanish exam (200 questions! My school is nuts beyond belief) and right before I had started that exam I had been reading and of course I had to stop in the middle of the craziest part to start the exam. So the entire time I felt like throwing the test on the floor and yelling, "screw it!" and just reading. Yes I get that involved with books that they become more important than school itself (just imagine me with twilight!). So yea I just started the second one last night and I literally needed to tear my eyes away from the pages to write this. Consider yourselves lucky!_

* * *

…Chapter 6…

EPOV:

I walked down a brick-road alley, casually strolling the streets of Volterra, swinging my arms back and forth, and whistling an unfamiliar tune. All I needed to do was wait now. Wait for the Volturi to come and finish me off.

I ignored the people on the streets whispering behind hands and pointing at me. Everyone saw it or heard of it—a young man lifts a car over his head and throws it at a wall—and it was a stupid mistake on my part.

Yes, I wanted to anger the Volturi but I hadn't wanted to do anything that drastic. I was just so frustrated. I wanted to leave; just leave everything here, right here in this worthless world—there was nothing I wanted that was here. I'd never see _her_ again for as long as I live—so what was the point of living? What I wanted was unattainable, whether I died or not though.

I turned a corner into a dark alley. There were no little shops on the sides, or young children playing tag, or women sticking their heads out windows and watering blossoming flowers that sat in pots on the windowsill. Everything was still, lifeless.

_Lovely,_ I thought,_ just my style._

I walked down the alley. It was particularly dark in this one alleyway, although it was dark nearly anywhere at the moment. The sun had just set, leaving an orangey colored line just above the horizon and thick clouds rolled overhead, threatening rain with a crack thunder every now and then.

_Thunder. Baseball. My family._

Oh how I'd miss my family. They probably think I'm still in Forks, enjoying time with an elderly Bella—unless Alice had a vision already and they knew where I was and why I was here. Little do they know I never got to see my Bella. I never _would_ get to see my Bella again. Never ever.

My family. They didn't deserve this. All they did was help me the past forty years, my forty years without Bella. They helped me get through every excruciating day that seemed to drag on and on in pointless lulls and drags. Every time I'd be on the verge of completely breaking down, Alice would be at my side, comforting me. Every time someone brought up something about Bella by accident, Jasper would be there to calm me with his power. Emmett tried to keep my mind off the pain; he'd play video games with me or brought me to football games. Esme and Carlisle were always by my side offering reassuring words. Even Rosalie tried to help. They all cared and I could tell. But nothing they did would or could help.

_Bella. _

I wanted to just go back to her so badly. To hold her I my arms and whisper into her ear. To hear her laugh, to see her cry, watch her sleep once more. I wanted her and only her. But I couldn't have her.

It was better this way. I kept her safe all these years and that's all I ever intended on doing. I wanted to know that she was safe. I _thought_ she was safe. I was wrong. She's gone now, probably went looking for me. Everything, _everything_ was my fault.

And now that I was alone I could accept it; accept the fact that Bella was most likely…

"Dead," I whimpered softly.

And it was my fault. She went after me. I wasn't there for her when she so obviously needed me the most. I was a failure and I knew it. I would always know. Bella made me forget though. She made me forget all the made things I've done, like weight being lifted off my shoulder. The only bad part? Everything bad that was lifted from me was placed on her. I constantly put her in danger, on edge. She should have been able to live, to forget my problems and focus on her _life_. And so I left and never came back. The weight was placed back on my shoulders and I ran off with it. But it seems I left a few for Bella. I left and she still had to deal with my problems. It wasn't fair to her; Bella deserved the world, all eternity, all of everything.

But she can't have any of it now. I had stripped away all innocence, all hope, and put myself in their spot. And she was perfectly fine with that. But when I left, there was nothing. Nothing at all had taken place of what once was my spot. She became empty, broken, numb. How did I know this? I felt exactly the same way every day I was away from her.

I saw something move in the shadows that tore me away from my thoughts. A tall figure stepped out of the black shadows and into what was left of the light. I recognized her immediately in a long black hooded cape and violet eyes that no one could forget. Heidi. I knew what she was here to do so I stopped in my tracks and looking at her expectantly, waiting.

After a few moments of silence and staring contests, Heidi finally spoke. "Edward," she greeted, nodding her head slightly toward me.

"Heidi," I replied.

"Well, you know what I'm here to do, right?"—I nodded my head ever so slightly—"Good." She was suddenly by my side in the next instant. She walked around my still as stone figure, looking me up and down. She stopped right in front of my face, glaring directly into my eyes with her eerie plum colored ones. I looked away and she barked a laugh. She touched my cheek lightly and then gave it a soft tap. "So modest, you. I can see why she still likes you."

I looked up. _She? _I decided to listen into Heidi's thoughts to understand what she was talking about but when I did I realized she'd been blocking her mind from me the entire time. I decided to just let the entire thing go. What was the point? I was about to die.

Heidi grabbed my hand and I meant to pull away until I saw something in her eyes. It wasn't hate. It wasn't anger or even disappointment. It was…lust. I hadn't seen that emotion directed towards me in years. I hadn't gone to school since I left Bella. Everyone, everything seemed to remind me of her, of my old home, which reminded me of her, everything seemed to go back to Bella in some way.

So I was stuck there, staring stupidly at her, unable to move. She took my hand and tugged me along with her as she walked towards a sewer opening. All I could do was follow. I was walking off towards my death, the death I wanted, the death I deserved. I followed her down the "sewer" opening and through the tunnels beneath the city. Eventually, after going through halls and stairwells and elevators, we reached one of the main halls. This is, from what I could see, where most of the members of the guard for the Volturi had their own rooms. But from what I could hear, most of them were out. Except for one room across from where Heidi and I had stopped in the middle of the hall, where I heard slight movement.

"Well, you know why you're here so lets just cut to the fun part," Heidi suggested with one delicate eyebrow raised. She took hold of both of my hands and walked backwards toward the room I assumed to be hers.

Suddenly I got what she had meant by "fun". I slid my hands out of hers and took a step back.

"If you're going to kill me, why don't you just get it over with?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll do that later. Lets just have some fun first," she said taking my hands again. Her hands simply grazed mine before I smacked them away. What was she thinking? Why doesn't she just kill me already?

"Why don't you just get me over with? I'm practically _asking_ you to kill me!" I whispered angrily. I could see her embarrassment for being shut down and anger spike. She gave me a disgusted look and then was in my face, yelling.

"Why don't you just do what I tell you to do?!" Heidi yelled. "I'm trying to make the last minutes of your life _fun_. Why don't you just cooperate?"—She threw her hands up in surrender—"That's it! Forget it! I'll just kill you and get it over with,"—she turned, mumbling incoherent profanities to herself, and stomped towards her room—"Isabella was right, you are an asshole!" she yelled over her shoulder and then Heidi's door slammed shut.

"Bella…" I whispered quietly.

Isabella? Bella? Just as she said that one word that sent my world spinning out of control, Heidi had forgotten to keep her mind blocked. I mostly just saw angry flashed over light running through her mind at that point but in the midst of all the chaos I caught a glimpse of an image of Bella—my Bella. I broke and rejoiced on the inside. She looked as beautiful as ever. But why would Heidi be thinking or talking about Bella?

I was so confused but then I heard a tiny gasp come from behind me. I whirled around to see Bella, standing right there, across the hall from me slightly behind a door. _Impossible_. She wouldn't be here. She _couldn't_ be here. Bella was…dead.

"Great, just great," he said. "Now I'm hallucinating."

My mind was just giving me what I wanted. A crystal clear memory of my Bella—my beautiful Bella—standing right here in the hall with me…right before I die. Perfect.

My hallucination giggled. Bella opened the door a bit more and hesitated, seeming to think about her next movements. Then she opened the door she'd been standing behind all the way and stepped out into the hall with me.

We stood there. I watched as she thought. Did hallucinations usually seem this life like? I cursed my own mind for thinking this, for playing these tricks on me. It wasn't fair. I was glad that I could still remember Bella perfectly, exactly the way I left her—only something seemed different, I couldn't figure out what though—but this was tearing me up on the inside. Depression began to burn a whole right through my very being because although I saw her now, once she was gone I'd want to go wallow in a tight ball in the corner of a room. These memories—images of her face, the color of her blush, the sound of her laugh, scenes playing out in my head, remembering—hurt me. I always felt as if I would die one day from all the pain I had on the inside. In fact, I prayed that it would kill me one day, but it never did. I had to deal with everything for the rest of forever.

"Edward…" Bella whimpered. I suddenly realized what was different about her. Her eyes. They weren't the deep pools of chocolate I remembered. They were crimson like the color of a human drinker's eyes—

And then it all fell into place. It made sense, why Bella was here. She was…part of…_them_. That's why her eyes were crimson, that's why Heidi knew her. Could it really be her though?

"Bella?" I asked. My breath shortened and I stilled. Heidi was coming, I heard her. I looked at Bella. She had heard it too.

Bella grabbed my hand and ran me down the hall at a pace even I couldn't keep up with. I stumbled behind her. How could she run so fast? I was a fast runner myself but Bella could outrun me now. She ran me to a door, without anybody even touching it, it flew open and kept we running—or in my case stumbling—through. She finally stopped at the beginning of the castle's underground tunnels.

"Go," she whispered strictly.

I couldn't believe this. Bella…was here. I had to talk to her, to do…something.

"Bella, I can't believe…I mean…is it…Bella I—"

"GO!" She pushed him toward the tunnels and I stumbled back a few steps and fell backwards. She had pushed me. Even as a vampire, I should have been stronger than her. But now, she was strong; even stronger than Emmett, maybe. I looked up at her, confused and hurt. Did she want me out that badly? She looked completely out of control herself. Her arms shook with what I guessed was anger and frustration. She looked as if she was going to blow her top off at any moment now.

I got up, composed myself, and walked over to her, hoping she'd hear me out, but she ran away. I ran after her, trying my best to keep up. I failed though, I came out the door we had come in and saw her down the hall opening yet another door without touching it. Things were just randomly flying out of their places as I ran to the end of the hall, where I'd seen Bella go. Pictures ripped off walls, vases flew off side tables, doors flung open and slammed shut simultaneously. What was doing all of this? I flew past Heidi, who leaned against a wall, crouching down to dodge the flying objects. She watched the entire thing unfold before her eyes; she seemed to ignore the chaotic ness of the hall though, like she saw it everyday. I went through the door I'd seen Bella go through and there was a flight of stairs. I ran up them at top speed and emerged outside on a rooftop. It was pouring rain and dark as I looked around for Bella.

Then I saw her, walking towards the edge of the rooftop. I quickly walked towards her and grabbed her arm. I spun her around to look at me. She looked stunned and angry. But this was probably the only time I'd get to see her, to talk to her, to apologize.

"Bella…Bella, I'm sorry…for everything. I lo—" she cut me off by putting her finger to my lips. All I wanted to do was tell her, tell her that I loved her and needed her. I wanted to have her to myself.

"Please," she begged. "_Please_ just go." I was indefinitely hurt by her words. How could she want me to go? We were finally together; she wasn't dead…per say and I wasn't gone. I had to make her realize that I loved her.

Then, I went in for the kiss. That, surely, was ours. My lips only grazed hers before she put her hands on my chest and pushed me away.

"Are you crazy?!" she shrieked. "Do you really want to die that bad? Edward! Just…go away. _Please_."

"Bella I—"

"No," she said harshly. Her words ripped at by very being, shredding it to pieces and then burning the shreds. "Now go or I'll have to kill you myself!"

"But—"

"Edward," she pleading in an unkind tone. "How many times do I have to tell you to GO?" She shoved me and I stumbled back, I couldn't believe what was happening. Did Bella not know me? Or did she not _want_ to know me? As I stumbled backwards from the impact of Bella's shove, my foot hit something solid and I tripped back over it.

And then I was falling.

* * *

_Okay peoples! You know the drill! Hope you enjoyed the chapter…blah blah blah…I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible…yadda yadda ya…and don't forget to leave me a pretty review!_

_Till next time,_

_Sasha_


	7. Chapter 7

_You all receive my deepest apologies for the long wait. ::pulls apology out of pants pocket and gives to you:: Summer vacation called and I just had to answer. But I'm here now and ready to write._

_my goal is to finish this story before eclipse comes out (and we will have more info on the Volturi and I'll feel really, really stupid writing this considering I'm basing the Volturi members on just the info we receive in new moon) but I'll need all your support to push out the next couple of chapters in three weeks._

_Sorry bout the last chapter too. I know most of you hated the fact that it ended with the same cliffhanger as chapter 5 but I think it was important for you guys to see what exactly has been going through Edward's head lately. _

_We shall find out what happens now! Yay!_

* * *

…Chapter 7…

BPOV:

I sighed as I watched Edward fall over the edge. How many times was I going to have to save him tonight?

I scanned the area to make sure there were no onlookers. When I saw that everyone had gone inside for the day due to the pouring rain, I focused in on Edward and then he was floating. I had to concentrate harder on keeping him from falling than regular inanimate objects but I got him to stay. For a moment I thought of placing him back on the roof with me but couldn't. The others were standing just behind me, watching my every move, and if I brought him back they would get rid of him. And I didn't save him twice tonight so that he'd still get killed.

I lifted him using the useful power I'd received—or absentmindedly taken, whatever you think is more appropriate when it comes to my power—from Finn, and placed him on a nearby roof.

He sat up quickly with a stunned look. He didn't understand. He was confused. But what did he expect, he hadn't seen me in forty years! He stood up, silently begging me to say something with his eyes.

I could feel everyone behind me. I wouldn't break in front of them. This was my family now. Edward was from a past life. Yes, we'd have to talk eventually but not now, not anytime soon actually.

"Go," I mouthed. And finally, for the first time in the past five minutes, he listened to me. He slipped down a gutter pipe in the side of the abandon house he'd been standing on. Then he easily slid open a window and hopped into the house. He gave me one last sad look before closing the window and walking deeper into the house.

I stared after him for a couple of moments longer until I felt someone grab my hand. I turn around to see Alec holding my hand and looking up at me.

"Are you going to be okay Isabella?" he asked, looking more like the young child he was than an old vampire.

I smiled down at him. Using my free hand, I ruffled his hair and said, "Of course kiddo." He held on to me though. It was times like these that I felt closest to Alec. He never pressured me for anything. If anything, he was the most supportive towards me in the entire house.

I looked back towards the house Edward had slipped into just moments ago longingly for one last time. Then I turned back towards the others—my family. When I saw their faces I immediately looked away. They were all angry, disappointed, surprised at me. What I just did was wrong—I knew that—Edward should be dead right now. He wasn't an exception at all but I had just treated him like one.

_Edward_.

I already missed him. I was secretly relieved I had come out into the hallway and saw Edward—saved him. He was alive now, that was a good thing—right? Yes, yes it was good. But who knows when I'll see him again, all _I_ knew was that I'd be counting down the days until I could see him once more.

"Edward," I sighed so softly that not even Alec had a chance of hearing.

I shook my head, snapping out of my daze. What was I thinking? I was Isabella—kick-ass, tough as rock Isabella. The one who didn't take no for an answer. The one who everyone looked up to here—the independent Isabella Marie Swan Volturi.

'_The one who dry-sobbed to herself all night, every night, over a boy'_ I thought to myself. I was stunned. The voice came from inside of me, told me the reality of my life, but it felt distant, almost as if it came from someone else. Almost like it came from another part of me—the Bella part. The one I'd kept locked up for forty years…and Edward was the key to it. When I saw him, he unlocked Bella, let her loose to tear me apart on the inside.

My hand slapped over my mouth, holding back the squeaky sob that almost escaped the confines of my trembling lips. I looked back up at my family—and suddenly they didn't feel so much like _my_ family anymore. There was only one person I wanted to be with right now—and I'd just pushed him off a building moments ago, possibly pushing him out of my life for the rest of eternity.

Still standing on the edge of a breakdown, I pushed passed everyone—my so-called "family"—and slid down the banister of the spiral stairs leading to my hallway.

I ran to my room and towards my little desk. I threw open drawers, searching franticly for something I probably didn't have anymore. When I didn't find it I threw the drawer over my shoulder and across the room. Papers flew all over the room and fluttered to the floor like snow.

When I had ripped all the drawers out I threw my hands up in surrender. I collapsed down on my bed and took a deep breath. I could have sworn I'd stuffed it in the back of one of my desk drawers years ago after I'd found it in some old clothes…

I hopped off my bed and jumped down to the floor. Then I reached under my bed and pulled out a brown leather bound box. 'IMSV'—my initials—were printed in gold stitching on the side of the box. I softly ran my fingers over the letters and smiled to myself. Aro had given the box to me after he had stopped me from burning all my old human things years ago.

"Trust me," he coasted, placing the box in my hands. "You will want to keep something from your human life so you can remember better years and years from now."

I opened the box. It contained the clothes the Volturi had found me in and miscellaneous that happened to be in my pockets at the time. I carefully took the clothes and other items out of the box and opened the hidden compartment at the bottom. And then I saw it. It sparkled even in the dim light that flooded my room.

I picked it up and let in dangle in my trembling hands…

_Year 2007:_

_Edward smiled down at me, smoldering his eyes. My knees gave way but he managed to catch me before I fell to the floor. He walked me over to his couch and sat me down. When he took a seat next to me I crawled onto his lap and rested my head on his stone cold chest. I felt his lips on the top of my head and I sighed deeply, happily. I tilted my head back slightly so I could see Edward's face better. He looked happy…but in the saddest of ways. It was almost like he was hiding something from me. I looked up at him quizzically. He looked away._

"_What's wrong?" I asked. I heard him take in a sharp breath and he looked back at me._

"_Nothing is wrong Bella. You shouldn't worry so much. Everything will turn out okay…" Edward's voice drifted off. I took that as his ways of ending the conversation._

_Edward reached behind himself and took something out of his back pocket. It glittered and sparkled in his pale hands._

_A necklace. A simple platinum chain with a small diamond pendant hanging off the end. I couldn't move, couldn't respond at all. He lifted my hand and pressed the necklace into my palm. He closed my fingers over the necklace and got up pulling me with him towards his door._

"_Edward, I—" I began to say but Edward interrupted. _

"_Don't say anything. Keep it,"—Edward motioned towards my hand gripping onto the chain—"I want you to have it. Think of it as my way of saying that I love you no matter what happens between us, no matter how many hundred miles or years or people come between us. I'll always love you."_

_There was an awkward then, one that Edward seemed eager to break. "Now come, I have to bring you back home."_

_The car ride home was quiet. The necklace lay in my hands the entire way. With every streetlight that the car sped by, the necklace glittered even more. On the back of the diamond pendant the word "Forever" was inscribed. And that one word meant it all. _

_I put the necklace in my back pocket with a smile on my face._

_Edward loved me. _

_He was going to protect me. _

_He was staying. _

Year 2047:

But I was wrong. Edward had left me the next day and my world went crumbling so fast that it took me years just to begin the recover. As a matter of fact, I still wasn't fully recovered. I never would be.

Now I clutched onto that same necklace. A jolt of a familiar pain ran through my system. I was angry and upset, relieved and worried, hurting and yet still standing. I wasn't sure if I wanted Edward. Of course I'd always want him in a way but do I _want_ him now. We weren't the same people we were forty years ago—or at least _I_ wasn't. We come from two different worlds now; it was too late to pick up where we left off.

Too late… 

I stood up and looked under all the papers on the floor. I picked up some things I might need—cell phone, matches, identification—and stuffed them in a black leather jacket. I slipped into the jacket and held tightly onto the necklace.

I walked towards the door and turned back towards my room when I was under the doorway. I looked at the mess I was about to leave—the papers coating the floor, the broken drawers scattered across the room, the dents on the wall opposite my desk—and smiled sadly to myself. I turned back towards the hallway and closed the door behind me.

I walked back over to the staircase. The others were just coming down from the roof. I quickened by speed to a run. I brushed past some confused faces but I ignored them. I needed to go, to explain to Edward. I'd come back; I knew I would eventually be back at the Volturi sitting in my room sulking like I had been for the past four decades. But if I told the others that I'd be forbidden to go.

"Isabella?" some called from somewhere behind me. But I didn't stop, didn't acknowledge their puzzled voices for a second.

I ran up the stairs and inhaled the fresh, wet air when I reached the rooftop. I stopped for a second, listened to the sound of my heavy breathing and the sound of the others running up the stairs to see me and the sound of the raindrops clitter-clattering on the rooftop around me—the sound of being alone in this world, no one will be by my side to protect me from here on.

I took a step back, facing the ledge of the roof. Then I felt someone grab my elbow, tugging me back. I stumbled back a step from the force of the tug and the person put their arm around my neck, holding me back tightly. I shot my head to the side to get a glimpse of the person.

Felix, with Demetri close by his side. I growled venomously while I struggled to stand up straight. Felix just laughed. Demetri leaned down to my ear and gave a growl just a vicious as mine.

"Where do you think your going?" Demetri snarled, his venom-dipping lips brushing against my ear.

I saw Heidi shaking her head from the corner of my eye. "We knew day would come," she said solemnly.

Suddenly Alec was I front of me. "You can't go Isabella," he said. "We are not allowed to just leave when we like." Although I loved that kid, I snapped at him. No one told me what I could and could not do. He jumped back and went to stand next to his sister.

I struggled against Felix's grip but he just twisted my arm behind me, hard, and yelped in pain. I growled louder and I struggled more. Demetri jumped in front of me. I used my free hand to punch him in the face. Demetri stumbled back, his eyes wide and his hand over his face. Felix finally released his grip on my neck to grab my other arm and hold it behind me.

"Careful boys," Marcus said from behind us.

"Thanks for the heads up," Demetri said sarcastically but it was muffled from behind his hand.

"Alec was right Isabella," Aro called from beside Marcus. "You can not leave as you feel. You work for me—us—and if we chose for you to leave, if we give you _permission_, then you can leave. But as of this moment, you are banned from leaving."

"Oh yeah," I said. "Watch me." I stood up straight, pushing Felix off of me. Felix fell back but immediately got up and tried to grab my legs. But, lucky for me, I saw him coming. I spun around and landed a roundhouse kick right in his gut. I heard the air "whoosh" out of his lungs and he went flying sideways to the other end of the roof. A retaining wall stopped his fall. He slammed against it and slid down to the floor; the wall he crashed into crumbled over him.

"Demetri!" Caius yelled. "_Grab_ her!"

I saw Demetri coming towards me out of the corner of my eye and I looked completely over at him, my eyes alight with violent anger. He stopped dead in his tracks looking like a deer in frozen with fear in front of headlights.

"Isabella," Aro warned sternly.

I took a step forward, testing the others. No one moved. I took another step.

"Jane!" Aro yelled. Jane took a quivering step back, shaking her head in fear. It was times like these that I remembered Jane was still a scared little child on the inside.

I took a few more steps towards the edge of the roof and then took a small step back, readying myself for the jump. I heard the others walking towards me, calling my name. Someone's fingers simply grazed my elbow before I pulled back.

These…_people_ weren't going to control my life. They were my family now, yes, but I was my own person. _No one_ was in charge of me but myself.

I looked up at the edge, my eyes flickered with light, my teeth gritted together. And suddenly…everyone was flying backwards, away from me. I took another step back and then I was running and when I got to the edge I jumped. The next building was a fairly far leap from where I was but I leapt anyway—I knew I'd make it. The jump was so exhilarating, so refreshing. I tilted my head up towards the sky and tasted the rain, let it sprinkle my face lightly. I finally felt…_free_. It was the first time I'd felt that way since I'd moved to Volterra and joined the Volturi.

_Free_.

I finally reached the next building. I grabbed the ledge and hoisted myself up to the top. And then I ran across that roof, not looking back once.

_Free_.

I reached the other end in record time. I slid down a gutter and slipped into a window, into the same building Edward had gone into. I heard my family yelling in the distance as I went though the window and into the abandon home. I smiled to myself and closed the window, blocking them from my life for the moment's being.

_I'm finally free…_

* * *

_Well? I hope it was worth the wait ::puppy eyes:: I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible but please, I'll need all your support to finish this in exactly 21 days so PLEASE review. I'm starting the next chapter right away. _

_Let me tell you, my biggest inspiration for this chapter was the song "Maybe" by Kelly Clarkson. It goes so well with the chapter (and the story itself). It gave me the kick in the ass to update. Thank you Miss Clarkson!_

_I've got great ideas for new stories but I wont start anything till I finish this and read eclipse (I want more information before I begin) but I'll tell you the names of my upcoming stories: One Night (which is a one-shot that corresponds with this fanfic in Finn's POV), Savoir, and Found. Towards the end of this story I'll start asking for betas for these fanfics because I've decided that someone beta-ing this stuff for me would make my life easier. _

_And if anyone would like to beta for me for this fanfic drop a review and ask! That's all you have to do! So I guess in a way I'm asking for a beta? Anyone willing?_

_I hope you enjoyed,_

_Sasha_


	8. Chapter 8

_Haha, I know you're all like 'halleluiah! She updated!' and I'm sorry about that. I know eclipse is now out and I haven't even gotten ONE chapter out since I set my goal but its not my fault. a few days after I last updated, my little cousin was in the hospital, so my mom woke me up early in the morning and told me we had to drive out to Mass.! But first we had to pick up my grandmother and two other cousins so that they could ride with us. All in all it was an extremely long ride—not to mention I had to watch my 9-year-old cousin, Alanis, scarf down a big mac, two snap wraps, a large order of fries, and a milkshake ::stomach turns:: where does she put it all? Especially when its a 5 hour drive! –and when we got there my cousin was already out of the hospital and bouncing around the house because he was all hyped up on the drugs the doctors gave him. And considering I'm his favorite cousin (he and his brother want to marry me when they grow up ::gives weird look:: ) I had to play video games and watch movies with him 'cause he wanted me to._

_Then I got back and only had a couple of days of peace until I had to go to a barbecue for another cousin who's going off to college. _

_And then I had to spend a week with my bratty little cousin, Alexis—otherwise known as the devils spawn—at my house and I couldn't go on the computer because then she would want to go on. The entire week I wanted to throw her out of a window but considering I couldn't I then wanted to throw myself out a window. Ugh…_

_But she gone and yesterday wass my parents' anniversary and the one-year anniversary that we've all lived here at the new house so I figured its time to write! yay! But trust me, my hectic summer isn't over yet. I'm going out to the jersey shore with some cousins this weekend (not to mention the devils spawn will be tagging along ::prepares the pitchforks and locks the doors:: ) and I'm supposedly going camping in Mass. and to six flags and to Virginia beach and to Hershey park in Penn., and on top off all of that, I've got to start preparing for school!_

_::look up at author's note:: wow thats long. I wont bother you anymore with all my family dramas. Enjoy the new chapter!_

…Chapter 8…

"Edward," I whispered. My voice echoed throughout the house. I took a few steps towards the dark shadows that covered the insides of the abandoned house.

"Edward? Edward, are you here?" I whispered again, a pleading tone in my voice.

I got no response. I took a few more steps into the house. I went down hallways and through doors but I never saw him.

Then I heard something.

"Is that you, Edward?"

Then I heard the noise again only I realized that it was coming from above me. Footsteps… And then I heard muffled voices coming from the other room that were too low to be human. I walked to the end of the hall where the voices were coming from. The door was open in the slightest of ways. I took a peek in and saw Felix and Demetri speaking in hushed tones.

I froze, my mind spun, and my breathing stopped altogether. I should have seen this coming. Of course they were going to try and get me back. But I wasn't ready to leave.

I looked down at the necklace in my hand. I hadn't let go of it since I found it in my room. Not wanting to break it, I quickly fastened it around my neck all the while watching the others carefully. If I made just one wrong move they'd hear me.

My forehead creased as I thought of a plan. Nothing. And then I suddenly didn't have time to think up a plan because Demetri turned and saw me at the doorway. I jumped in my spot. I was caught.

Then I turned to run down the hall. As I ran I closed their door using my power—not that that would stop them, but it would buy me some time. I heard something big crash through the door behind me but I was already locked in one of the rooms.

"Isabella," they called and taunted. "Come out, come out wherever you are…"

I frantically searched the room for a way out. I found a window in very corner of the room. I tried to open it but it was locked. I could see that the sun had already risen and the towns people had began going about they're daily business. That wasn't going to stop me though. I smashed my elbow though the small window at the exact same time Demetri kicked down the door to the room I was in. I hoisted myself onto the window ledge quickly.

"Felix, grab her!" Demetri roared.

Felix ran to grab me and managed to grab my ankle. He pulled me off the ledge hard and I landed on the floor with a 'thump'. I quickly jumped onto my feet though but Demetri and Felix had been expecting that. Felix kicked me in the gut, hard, and I flew across the room and hit the wall but surprisingly kept flying. I had gone through the wall and finally landed in the next room.

"Ugh," I groaned as I lifted myself up clutching onto my side where I had smashed through the wall.

"That was for earlier," Felix sang from the other room.

I quickly composed myself. I walked over to the other room through the Bella-sized hole in the wall, stepping over rumble on the way. I stopped when I got to the room and stared them down. They stared back. And then, just like that, they were both floating. They struggled against the force of my power but eventually gave up. I walked out of the room and into the hall with Felix and Demetri floating closely behind me. I stopped at the end of the staircase. They floated in front of me; they couldn't even speak.

"And this…hmm…is just 'cause your both assholes," I said with a wicked smile. And then they both flew down the stairs and I left them go. Felix fell against the hand railing. It broke against his force and he landed on the hard marble floor of the first floor. Demetri hit the cement wall at the very end of the stairs, hitting his head pretty hard.

They groaned in pained. I simply smiled.

When I saw that they were beginning to get up I turned to leave. But then I heard someone running up the stairs already. I turned to see Demetri right on my tail. I ran back over to the room I was in before—too fast for Demetri to catch up in time. I went towards the one place I knew they wouldn't follow me—out into the sun. I got to the window and, without wasting anytime, hoisted myself up onto the window ledge and jumped. I landed lightly on the ground below me.

"You little bitch!" Demetri yelled out the window. "I'll get you, I promise I will!"

The townspeople looked up at the house but Demetri had gone back into the darkness of the small home. The people looked around for whom he had been yelling at too, but I was long gone.

_That's all for now everyone. I've got to get ready for the beach this weekend ( and prepare myself to endure two hours tommorow of DUN DUN DUN! High School Musical 2::horrific scream::) and I want to finish knitting the blazer I'm working on. I've still got to read my summer reading books too. (Anyone ever read 'Catcher in the Rye'?)_

_I know it was really short but it was action packed to please don't yell at me :(_

_i PROMISE I'll get the next chapter out sometime next week. If I don't…well then you can take my copy of eclipse and hold it hostage until I write it. ::sobs::_

_review and you'll get a kiss from Jacob (punching him in the face is optional ;D) _

_ 3,_

_sasha _


	9. Chapter 9

_See? I kept my promise. ::proud of myself::_

_The beach was fun (besides the fact that I got sunburn on my FACE). There were hot guys (with no shirts on ::drools:: ) and I stayed was physically far away from the devil's spawn as gravity could take me. and the waves were rough (and HUGE might I add) and I've got cut on my legs from all the sharp shells ::wince:: but you know, it was worth it all :)_

_And believe it or not: I LOVED high school musical 2! Haha yeah I can't believe it either. One of the song nearly made me cry. Actually I watched it again last night :D not to mention zac looked cute in that movie (I dig the new hair)_

_Exactly two weeks until school starts for me :( and this could possibly be my last update for the summer…_

_So "lick it up baby. Lick. It. Up." (lol. it just finished watching the movie 'heathers')_

* * *

…Chapter 9…

I ran so fast I wasn't even sure if my feet were touching the ground. I didn't look back. I didn't slow down to listen for others. I didn't look to see if there were any human onlookers. All I knew was that I had to get far away. Away from the Volturi, away from everything that would_ remind_ me of them.

I finally came to one of the shadowy walls surrounding the entire city. I slowed, listened, and made sure no one was watching me. I finally sat down and regulated my breathing. I sat with my back against the cold, uninviting stonewall and with my head in my hands.

I needed a plan. I couldn't just wander around in a place I didn't know with people I didn't know—especially considering that the Volturi would be hunting me down until I came back, whether it'd be voluntary or involuntary. I wasn't even sure what I wanted anymore now that I was free.

Edward or freedom?

Could I have both? I highly doubted it. Could I have either? I highly doubted that too.

I wasn't even sure _where_ Edward had gone. He could be out of the country by now. He could still be here in the city._ I didn't know!_ All _I_ knew was that I wanted out of Volterra. I needed to be far away, to buy time.

Demetri still couldn't track me and Aro didn't know my thoughts—didn't know that all along I doubted that the Volturi would have my back always. So that bought me time.

I was stronger and faster than any other member of the guard, maybe even the entire guard together. That bought me time too.

I sat up and slowly walked along the wall towards the opening to the outside of the city. I couldn't run the entire way to wherever I was going. I needed some sort of transportation. There we go, I had step one to my plan.

I finally came to the entrance of the city. There weren't any police officers out at the gates—thank god—and the sun was clouded over. I guess the rain wasn't over yet. I walked right out of the city and stood at the top of the long road that spiraled and twirled around the hill that Volterra sat on. I sighed at the length. I took a quick glance around, no one was around to see…

I was at the bottom of the road in two seconds flat. It would have seemed that I appeared out of thin air to human eyes. I began walking along the one-way road at a slow human pace. Half an hour later it began raining but I kept walking. Another fifteen minutes later a little old Mini Cooper finally came speeding down the road. I would have wished for something more…sporty and faster but this seemed to be my last hope.

I put on my best mistress in distress face and stuck my thumb out towards the road. The car slowed and stopped right next to me. When the driver's window went down I put my persuasion on full blast.

"Well, well. Where are you heading, poppet?" a cute boy with a thick British accent said from the drivers seat. His friend in the passenger seat snorted.

I made a quick choice. "Paris?" I said more like a question.

The front door on the passenger side popped open and the boy's friend came out into the rain. He was tall and sort of muscular. I wondered how he had fit into car.

"We can drive you as far as the border of Switzerland and France," the driver said with a smile. "Great boarding up there."

I smiled my brightest smile. It seemed I didn't even need to use my persuasion power. I ran over to the other side of the car and climbed into the backseat. And then we were off. Being stuck in that small car with two delicious smelling humans didn't exactly curb my appetite. The sting in the back of my throat was unbearable and my mouth filled with venom. But I swallowed and resisted. If these boys were nice enough to give me a ride then I could wait a couple of hours to feed.

"So…" the boy in the passenger seat began, turning to look at me. "I'm Geoffrey and this is Landon."

I smiled, not really sure what to say or do. I hadn't interacted with humans like this in years—besides feeding time.

"Isabella," I said with a timid smile.

Geoffrey turned back around in his seat. I stole a glance of my reflection in the rearview mirror and realized why it was so easy to get a ride from these guys. I was wet, alone, and my eyes were dark with thirst—which was good because they probably would have got out of the car and ran if they saw my real eye color. Of course this all added up the sexy in these guys books. I sighed and rested my head on the window. I watched the road fly by for a few minutes.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," Geoffrey said. "But what's a pretty lass like you doing out there in the rain?"

"Uh," I stuttered. What exactly _was_ my story? I decided to make something up quickly, something that would be believable but still true. "I'm looking for someone…"

Geoffrey nodded his head for me to continue.

"Yeah, but my…_friends_"—I spit the word with hate rising from the pit of my stomach—"don't like him very much." It wasn't a lie per say.

Landon's eyes opened wider in the slightest and he looked at me through the rearview mirror. "_You're running away from them?_" he asked. The car slowed a bit. I bit my lip and stared back at him through the mirror. But our little staring contest ended when Landon took his eyes away from me and back on the road.

"Sort of," I muttered.

Geoffrey punched Landon's arm and said, "Dude, that is so hot." He smiled at me.

"You don't mind driving around a fugitive?" I joked, trying to break the tension. Geoffrey laughed. Landon took a brief look at me through the window. But that one brief look made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

I slumped down in my seat and stayed that way for the next few hours.

Finally, hours later, Landon muttered that they needed to make a stop. We pulled into a small snowy town. They parked and left the car, saying they'd both be back in a minute.

I sat quietly in the back seat. A few minutes later, the boys came out of the store they had been in with bags. They looked like they were arguing.

"…But dude look at her," Geoffrey said. "She's hot."

"What's the point?" Landon said. "She's probably just running off to see her _boyfriend_. Look, I just haven't had a good feeling about her since she got in the car and I don't think she's telling us the truth. She seems like trouble if anything." _Smart boy. _"The border's only half an hour away. We'll drop her off and that's it."

"But what if she really is in a bad predicament. We were planning on seeing Paris, we could just skip the snowboarding and bring her with us."

"No."

I swallowed. This guy saw right through me. I was upset that they thought I was lying when I was actually was telling the truth. I was touched that Geoffrey wanted to help which made what I was about to do so much harder.

I reached into my jacket pocket and grabbed my money. I took a couple of hundreds and put the rest back and then found a marker on the floor. I scribbled something on the first bill and then threw the marker back on the floor. I opened the car door, ran out, put the money in Landon's shirt pocket, and ran back to the driver's seat so fast they would have thought of me as just a gust of wind.

I slammed on the gas pedal and sped off.

Geoffrey's POV:

You know I really did believe that girl in the car was in some sort of trouble. Maybe worse than her friends not liking her boyfriend. Maybe a lot worse. There was something in her eyes that just spelled fear.

It suddenly got windier and colder than before. I wrapped my jacket around myself tighter.

Then all of a sudden our car went speeding off. Landon was…_right_. She was trouble.

"Dammit," I muttered defeated.

"I told you so," Landon said. "_Now _what are we gonna do?"

I shrugged. Landon reached into his shirt pocket to grab his cell phone but instead pulled out a wad of money.

"Dude have you been holding out on me? Where'd you get all that? Oh cool did you rob one of those Swiss banks?! You're probably holding some illegal mafia money that they're hiding from the government like in that movie—"

"Shut up," Landon said. "No, I haven't had this the whole time and no, I did not rob a bank. I don't know how this got here."

I leaned closer to the money and noticed there was something on it. I snatched the money away and we both read the first bill.

'**I'm really sorry and I **_**really**_** am in trouble so thank you.**

**-Isabella'**

"Oh," I said. "I told you so." Landon whacked the back of my head and muttered something unintelligible. "Ow."

"How the hell did she get this in my pocket?"

I thought about that for a minute… "Do you think she's like…a witch?"

* * *

_Haha. I love that last line. I know this was short and probably my worst chapter yet but it was fun and this story needed a little break for some fun. Hope you guys enjoyed it too ;D I promise that the next couple of chapters will have a little something-something (definition of something-something more action, romance (of course! Paris IS the city of romance), and mushy gushy Bella-Edward moments that I'll cry writing) to spice up the story._

_Don't forget to press that cute little purple button and review,_

_Sasha_


	10. Chapter 10

_Hola chicos y chicas! Como estias? (see my Spanish is "improving" hehe) how is everyone? School already getting on your nerves? Yea I know the feeling. Here are some tips to use that I had to learn the hard way already…_

_- apparently teachers who's name you can pronounce don't appreciate when you call them 'Mrs.dude…lady…teacher' _

_-don't laugh when your English teacher with the twitchy eye reads a poem to the class with great emphasis and such, he'll call on you with the hardest question he could think of when he sees you yawn later._

_-Don't take the classes with all the freshmen in it (no offense to the frosh reading though) trust me, even if your taking honors biology I its gonna be infested with a bunch of genius little freshmen and you'll feel stupid, even if its freakin' honors level._

_-Here's two for the freshman reading this (this never happened to me but its very important): don't lean over or you'll get kicked in the ass…I'm not even kidding. And DO NOT ask upperclassmen for directions, you'll never get to your class, you'll wind up on the other side of the building in the abandoned hallway. (okay I'm guilty for that one, its just fun to do that to the freshman now that I'm not one.)_

_But there is three good things I've learned:_

_-to meet cute guys who know what there going to do with their life, take business classes. You might just meet a senior named 'austin' that'll catch your eye and tada! There goes your crush for the year. _

_-Don't hate going to science. You might just wind up sitting next to Edward. (sadly Edward hasn't decided to move up to Manalapan yet but that just means he could be your lab partners this year!)_

_-Whenever you don't wanna study or do homework just think 'dartmouth. Edward wants a girl who can go to Dartmouth with him.' That oughta help._

_So everything else is going good in life? No? what are you talking about!? Breaking dawn is coming out in less than a year! That's reason enough to be happy till then._

_Sorry to certain people who hadn't enjoyed the last chapter. I know it wasn't exactly up to my action, lost love, and kick-ass Bella 'standards' but I thought it was reasonable. Others like it and I NEEDED A BREAK PEOPLE!!!! Ugh, you have no idea how frustrating things are sometimes for us writers. Hopefully you'll ALL enjoy this chapter though :D_

* * *

…Chapter 10…

BPOV:

Darkness was all over—my sides, behind me, in front of me—and the car sped past it all into more nothingness. I put a little more pressure on the gas pedal. The car sputtered and protested but still went faster. I was already pushing 110 mph and I was losing gas too fast for my liking. But I didn't care; I just wanted to get away.

The car then sped past a tall, lonesome figure on the side of the road. I stomped on the brake and turned the steering wheel. The car spun a few times. When it came to a stop I went back and stopped in front of him. He had that same distressed and misunderstanding, but still beautiful, face I'd last seen him with.

EPOV:

I walked along a dark road. I wasn't sure were I was headed; I didn't know how far I'd gone. All I knew was that I needed to get away, to think all this out.

Bella, my Bella, was one of _them_. How? Why? Was this my fault? If I came back much sooner, would I have been in time to stop her from joining the monstrosity that was the Volturi? They had wanted her dead, they wouldn't have minded if the Cullen had gone down with her. Bella was a—a…

I couldn't think the word. She was a vampire, yes, but that want the word. She want like me, like my family—_part_ of my family—like she had wanted to be. She was…she was a…

_Monster._

I winced and regretted thinking it at once. But…how could I not? she _was_ one now—just like _them_.

_Bella, my Bella. What has happened to you? _I shook my head. _This is my entire fault._

A car zoomed passed me. I mostly ignored it until I heard the breaks screech and, when I looked up, that same car was headed towards me. the car stopped in front of me and finally saw the face. It was the face of a beautiful monster, the face of someone I loved—_still love._

Suddenly, the passenger door flew open.

"Get in." her voice was soft and rang like bells, it was almost hypnotic. I walked forward with even thinking about it. I was in the car before I realized what was happening. She made a u-turn and was back on the road in no time.

"Bella," I breathed. She hissed. I looked at her; she looked so pained at the sound of my voice. I reached over to touch her shoulder lightly, she shook my hand off without even looking at me. I continued, "I'm sorry."

The car slowed a bit and a vacant look went in her eyes when I said that, but she still didn't speak.

"This is all my fault," I whispered. "It wasn't supposed to wind up like this. You were supposed to be happy. I was wrong. There, I admit it. I was absolutely wrong. I shouldn't have left."

It was completely quiet in the car as both of us took in what I had said. Then, of all things, Bella's musical laughed rung through the dark confines of the car. I looked over at her. How was this funny?

"This is your fault," Bella giggled. "Wow…you haven't changed a bit." She sighed, and all was serious. "Think about it Edward."

It was quiet for a few minutes. I didn't know what to say.

Bella sighed again. "Did you ever think that maybe I was on my way to becoming happy, Edward, huh?" she whispered so softly I barely heard her.

"You don't look happy."

"Well, I'll give you a hint on why I'm not happy right now. It's the same reason I've been hurting for the past forty years." She looked over at me from the corner of her eye accusingly.

I winced and changed the subject. "I thought you were dead, Bella—"

"It's Isabella and…that's nice to know. But you know, when you live forever people you "love" died all around you. You, of all people, should know that by now."

"I'm sorry. I hurt you and I'm sorry for that. Will you ever find it in your heart to forgive me for it all?"

She pulled the car over to the side of the road and then she was completely quiet. You could see the city lights from here. We were close to wherever Bella was headed. I waited for Bella to talk, but she didn't for a long time. When I looked over at her there was something wrong.

BPOV:

"I'm sorry. I hurt you and I'm sorry for that. Will you ever find it in your heart to forgive me for it all?" Edward said. I listened to every word carefully. Could I forgive him? My heart yearned for me to answer 'yes'…

And suddenly I wasn't feeling like myself. I felt far away. I was somewhere inside myself searching for an answer.

Yes or no? No or yes?

It took me a while to focus on Edward's anxious voice. And when I finally came back to actuality, it was bright and I was lying down. Edward straddled my waist, his fingertips lightly touching my face.

EPOV:

Bella was only here in the car with me in body, her mind was someplace else far, far away.

"Bella," I whispered. No response. "Isabella?" Still nothing. I sighed and opened my door, stepped out, and got Bella out of the car too. It was only a few miles to the city. I picked Bella up and held her in my arms—just like I used too—and went into the surrounding woods.

Once I got into the city I put Bella down and helped her walk. Her eyes were opened and she could move at least, I didn't want to draw attention. Bella had brought us all the way out to Paris and I checked us into the nearest hotel.

The man at the front desk of the hotel stared at Bella, who now had her head resting on my shoulder, but said nothing.

Once we were up in the room I started to panic. Bella shouldn't be this deep in thought for this long. I paced the room, saying her name every few seconds to get her up. I had her lay on the bed and she stared up at the ceiling. I got no response each time I said her name.

Then, I heard her breathing stop. Of course, she didn't need to breath but it still worried me. I wasn't used to this Bella—the one who's heart didn't race when I touched her, the one who didn't need breath, the _vampire_ Bella. I jumped onto the bed.

"Bella? Bella, please, _please_ talk to me. Bella." I got on top of her and shook her shoulder lightly. She didn't respond. I touched the dark circles under her eyes with my fingers. "Bella."

Her eyes then opened and a spark of awareness flashed through her eyes and suddenly I was on the floor by the bed.

"Oops," Bella said from on the bed. "Sorry? I think."

I stood up. "Are you okay? You had me worried."

Bella looked around. "I feel fine…now. Has it been long?"—She looked at the clock on the nightstand by the bed—"Oh! It hadn't felt that long…"

I sighed with relief. As long as Bella wasn't hurt…

"Where are we?" Bella asked. She was at the window before I could answer. "Oh! Paris already?" I nodded and Bella's features went dark. "I can't stay."

"Why not?" I asked, disappointment colored my face. "Bella, we still haven't gotten a chance to _talk_."

"What do you want to talk about Edward? What is there to talk about? Please, _please _enlighten me! And…will you please stop calling me—calling me _Bella?!_"

"That's your name—"

"No. It's not, not anymore."

"Okay, _Isabella_…" I thought for a moment. I knew what I wanted to say but I couldn't figure out how to put it in words. "I haven't seen you in forty _years _and I come out here and find you…you with _them._ What _happened_—to you, to us?"

Bella looked at me instantaneously when I finished but when I looked back into her eyes she looked away. I could swear, in that one milli-second that our eyes met Bella actually looked vulnerable and like…_Bella _for the first time since the other night.

Bella cleared her throat. "You want to know what happened to _us?_"—She spat the word like it was dirty. It sort of was a dirty word between us now—"_You _happened to us. And do you want to know what happened to me? You. _You_ left._ You_ never came back._ You_ are the reason I joined _them_—"

"I'm sure you had a choice," I interrupted.

"Yeah," she said bitterly. "I did have a choice. And I choice the easy way out. I'd rather live like _this,_ than wait around for you until I died…. I wanted this. And…what were you expecting Edward? Did you think you'd find me sitting around in Forks with—with Mike Newton? The _"healthy"_ choice? No. Someone like me shouldn't have _been _human Edward. You knew that…" her voice drifted off. A few quiet and long seconds passed before Bella took a deep breath and spoke again. "This isn't why came to find you though."

BPOV:

"This isn't why came to find you though."

Edward looked up at me with his penetrating golden eyes and my hard shell nearly shattered. How long would I be able to keep this I'm-almost-happy-without-you appearance? Could he already see through it?

"I came for you because…" how could I say this? "Because I…"_ I'm still in love with you._ "I want to say sorry. You didn't…deserve what happened back in Italy. But this doesn't change anything." _I wish it did. _"I'm…with the Volturi now. They're my family now." _Hmph_, _some family I've got._ "I…owe them. They took care of me."

Edward looked down. "You don't have a choice but to go back, do you?" he said softly.

I pursed my lips. "No," I said. "I don't really have a choice."

"If you had a choice…would you stay…with _me?_" Edward looked back up at me and it was as if his eyes were ablaze with passion and…_love_. The fire burned through my soul and then, suddenly, my hard shell—Isabella—shattered into a million pieces and all that was left was Bella. I felt vulnerable, unprotected, _naked._

"If I had a choice—" I began to say but I was interrupted. There was a noise just outside of our hotel room door. We both looked over at the door at the same time and then turned towards each other with wide eyes. We both knew who'd come.

* * *

_That's all for now :D remember to leave that pretty little review for me everyone ::wink wink, nudge nudge::_

_Until chapter eleven,_

_sasha_


	11. note to my fans

hey everyone! it's been long huh?

well, to all of your distaste **this is not an update just a note to all of my fans**...

i'm extremely sorry about not updating for months now. sophmore year has been crazier than i thought.

-i feel like a complete idiot in my honors biology class. HOW ARE ALL OF THOSE FRESHMAN SO SMART?!

-i've been overwhelmed with homework and tests and essays. and on top of that HSPAs are coming up and i'll be taking my driver's permit test soon.

-family/friend drama has been almost too much to bare. my uncle's son from his first marriage whom i never met killed himself in october and i had to go to massachusetts for a funeral that i cried at and i didnt even know the guy (but how could i help it? when i see my little cousins and my aunt and uncle crying i couldnt help myself). my friend started acting really weird lately, hanging out with her other group of friends whom i'm not very fond of.

it's just been...well, life i guess.

but never the less, the new chapter has been written! three months ago to be nearly exact. yes, i wrote it and never typed it and for that i'm really sorry. but i promise on each and every jonas brothers' life, **THE NEW CHAPTER WILL BE POSTED THIS WEEK. **

-sasha


	12. Chapter 11

_well, here you go. told you i'd keep my promise.

* * *

_

Chapter 11…

EPOV:

I looked at Bella wide-eyed. This couldn't be over just as soon as it had started. There was too much I wanted to say, to hear from her. Bella practically mirrored my expression, which surprised me. She looked…sympathetic; upset this was over before it began. But here eyes—beginning to become dark, out of anger or hunger I didn't know—were gleaming with the knowledge of what she'd do next.

"You should go," bells said, barely audible. Then she looked at the door once more. "Actually, I should."

I didn't know what to say.

She grabbed my hand and stroked it with her thumb once. Then she got up and headed for the window.

Whoever was outside the room stilled and walked in the opposite direction. They were here for Bella, obviously. But I couldn't just let them take her away from me like that. I'll never get a chance like this with her again.

"Bella?" I looked over at the window just in time to see her leave, jumping gracefully right out of the window.

BPOV:

I quickly hopped out of the window before Edward could stop me—of course he would try, forty years have past and he's still the same—and sprinted to the closest shaded alley I could find.

Felix leaned against the wall with a small, knowing smirk on his face. I walked slowly toward him, deeper into the alley. When I stopped just a few feet away from him, he shrugged off the wall. His smirk became a full blown venomous grin. I stilled, bracing myself.

Then, I felt the impact of his foot against my chest and I hit the wall on the other side of the alley. All the air in my lungs whooshed out of me and I slid down the wall, breathless already.

I kept my eyes closed and waited as I listened to Felix's footsteps come closer and closer. When he finally stopped so close to my body, I heard the sound of his foot kicking back. I braced myself for my inevitable punishment.

But I never heard the sound of his foot coming towards me. instead, I heard the sound of stone hitting stone and my eyes shot open. And there he was.

_Edward._

I jumped up with a jolt of fear and anxiety and, as soon as Felix's was down, I ran to Edward's side.

I pushed him a little when he looked at me, worried.

"Are you stupid? Why did you—" I scolded but was abruptly interrupted. Edward looked over my shoulder. I didn't even look behind myself. Instead, I studied his face. His eyes were colored with anguish and defeat. He briefly gave me a wistful look before grabbing my hand and swinging me behind him.

"Hey, I can take care of myse—" I began but quickly shut up when I saw what Edward had been staring at.

Jane, Demetri, and Heidi stood at the entrance of the alleyway, wearing black hoods and triumphant smiles.

Felix laughed heartily from his spot on the floor behind me. "I told you you'd pay." I heard him get up and I quickly jumped around. Edward and I stood back to back, watching the others close in on us.

"Why, did you follow?" I asked quickly and softly as I watched Felix crouch down to pounce.

"Because I—" Edward never got to finish. Suddenly, Edward dropped to the ground and his hands—now in fists—went to his head.

It was then that Felix came at me. he grabbed my wrists but I swung him off and kicked him right in the face. He slammed against the wall.

I looked at Heidi and Demetri coming towards me. Jane stayed behind smiling at Edward's crumpled figure. And that threw me off the edge. Rage fired my blood. Just as Demetri was going to take a hit at me, everything froze for the slightest of seconds. Then, Felix, Demetri, Heidi and Jane were in the air above me.

"Stop it," I said through clenched teeth. I glanced over at Edward, his face still crumpled in pain, and I stared back at Jane, my eyes a blazed. "Leave. Him. Alone."—she smiled—"I said stop it!" I yelled. Jane stopped smiling, and all of their faces grew paler than usual.

I looked back at Edward. He panted on his hands and kness, struggling to get up. I walked over to him and gave offered my hand. He took it gratefully. I pulled him up and leaned in towards his ear.

"_Why?"_ I whispered in a voice so low that the others hadn't the slightest hope of hearing.

He put his hand on the smalls of my back and I stumbled into his chest. My whole body tingled with the pleasure of memories past. My breathing became uneven and my my legs felt as if they'd give way soon—incredible he could still do this to me—but I tried my best to keep my concentration on the others.

I could feel his icy breath linger on my ear and when he spoke, he spoke just as quietly as I had. "Because I love you."

EPOV:

Bella stilled against me. the others hit the wall of the alley and slid down so fast that when they hit the floor, the sound hurt my ears. The glass shattered on the building windows above us. It suddenly felt a lot darker. Dead silence filled the space between everyone.

Bella finally took a step back. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself. We simply looked at each other. We wore worrisome like a mask. What were we supposed to do now?

And then Demetri got up and hit Bella right in the face. She fell to the ground, her fingers grazed the place where Demetri had hit her.

Pure instinct kicked in as I saw Felix coming towards her. I punched him and shoved him so hard against a wall that it seemed to wake Bella up. she jumped and kicked Demetri in the back when he wasn't looking.

And then we were both fighting our own battles, occasionally switching places and throwing worried glances over each other's shoulders.

But soon, we were both defeated. Jane released her power on me full on and I sat against the wall, silently being tortured. Bella was being held by Felix and Demetri. She struggled her hardest but began to grow wary and stopped struggling as hard. They all looked at Bella with smug smile faces, almost as if they had accomplished something great.

Suddenly, the pain subsided and all heads turned towards the alleyway entrance. There, Aro stood with a friendly smile. With a few strides, he was right in the middle of everything. There were a few small bows of respect.

Aro looked at Bella and clasped his hands together. "You've found our Isabella!" Bella gave him a dirty look through her lashes but kept quiet. "We've been looking all over for you, my darling. We've just missed you so much back home."

Demetri rolled his eyes. Felix snorted. Bella tried getting free again but Felix twisted her arm back a little and she stopped. She obviously had no choice but to go.

"You weren't thinking…" Aro continued. "That we'd just let you go, did you?"

Bella looked at him sarcastically but I could see past her expressions. Her eyes…they showed the hurt girl I had left behind so many years ago. The one that _I_ had hurt. The one that _I_ had loved. The one that I _still_ loved.

"Please," I said. "Leave her alone. If she doesn't want to go, she shouldn't have to."

Aro turned to me and gave me a look like it was the first time he had noticed me here. He then looked at me thoughtfully for a moment longer.

"So, it's the boy whose corrupted you," Aro said with a smile, turning back to Bella. I growled lowly. Bella's eyes flickered to me momentarily. "Hmph, well of course Bella _wants_ to come back. We're her family—her _only_ family—"

"No," I said. "She has a family…with me. Let her come with me. my family will watch her, we'll—"

"We saved her," Aro continued as if he'd never heard me. " She made a deal. Why would she want to leave us? Actually, _you_ should have been taken care of already, Mr. Cullen. Heidi? —"

"Don't," Bella finally spoke. "I'll go. Just leave him alone. Let him go."

"But—"

"No," Bella insisted. "I'm not going anywhere unless you let him go…at least for now."

Aro sighed and thought it over for a while. "Fine."

"Bella," I breathed. She looked at me and shook her head.

Demetri and Felix began pulling Bella back down the alley and she stumbled behind them. I sat up and watched her leave. When they were out of view, I stood up and slumped against the wall. She was gone…already. How did this happen?

I heard someone running toward me and before I knew it Bella was in my arms. I pressed my face into the space between her shoulder and neck, breathing in her heavenly scent. We heard the others running towards us but we still held onto each other. A small sob erupted from her chest.

"I'll come for you," I breathed. She shook her head against my shoulder.

"They'll kill you," she said.

"I love you," I reminded her.

"I know," she whispered just as someone pulled her from me.

I looked down, trying not to watch her leave me. Then she said my name. I looked up.

"Edward." Her hand reached out for mine. I took her hand and she passed me something. I looked down at it. It was the necklace I'd given her nearly forty years ago. The word 'forever' flooded my mind.

"I'd stay with you," she said.

* * *

_if you're confused about that last line i recommend re-reading chapter 10._

_this chapter is dedicated to all my fans who threatened if i didnt update by the end of the week, all the jonas brothers would drop dead. (thanks for scaring me to death!) and its also dedicated to the jonas brothers...for still being alive..._

_xoxo,_

_Sasha_


	13. note from the bffl!

**HEY !!** sorry …. this isn't sasha (DON'T CURSE ME OUT YET) this is her bestie AGNES !! haha soo I got bored and hacked onto her fanfic account and well I'm on the phone with her while doing this and well im talking her into continuing this fanfic you guys all love soo much (ive never read it myself but apparently its really good LOL) !!

Sooooo this is whats been going on … Sasha totally forgot she wrote at all !! BUT THANKS TO MWAH!! SHE'S GOING TO BE PUTTING UP A NEW CHAPTER BY THE END OF THE SUMMER !! (still on the phone with her " I meant to finish this story 2 summers ago") The reason why you guys still have to wait a couple more weeks is because she has to reread the entire thing … and try to remember what the hell she was going to write !! (great isn't she hahaha )

But other than me convincing her she wants to continue the story for all the amazing fans who don't bash her and THE JONAS BROTHERS !! and whatever else they have to bash about !! haha

But yeah we actually read the comments !! and we totally TOTALLY love LOVE people who comment awesome things !!

We both totally love !!! …. the user I-had-a-Sandwhich-in-my-Head !!! yeah we love you !! your comment was mine and sash's fav !! *haters take note about nice comments* but yeah no more threats please !! theyre annoying and sash sed you guys can go die if you want !! LOL don't you just love her!! Haha but yeah don't really like drop dead cause she once wished this guy to drop dead and he got really sick for 2 weeks and then this other time she sed the same about some other kid and he like broke his leg !! OH AND IF YOU GUYS WERE EARLY READERS AND REMEMBER 10.5 HE DIDN'T DROWN IN A POOL OF SODA BUT HE DID TEAR HIS KNEE AND HAD TO GET SURGERY!! Soooooo ….. yeah try not to piss this chick off bahahahaahahaha !!

But yeah no more threats about the jonas brothers or else she'll "find a way to block all you mother fuckers from the story" lol

Oh yeah Sash is really competitive so if you like leave comments that say I bet you cant finish the story, or I bet it wont be as good as before you'll have a new chapter sooner than expected sooo feel freee to leave comments like that !! (BUT ANY THREATING JONAS COMMENTS AND EVEN I WILL KICK YOUR ASS HAHAHAA !!! JK …not really)

But anyways yeah this note is so that you guys know sash is actually alive and can actually finish the story but WAS just lazy too ! I apologize on her behalf cause she probably wont !! lol

.JONAS ----- sashie's bestie AGNES !! haha and if you haven't figured out im a jonas fan too LOL =P!

P.S. after reading this note to myself I really made sasha to sound like a bitch lol but shes not I promise …… well… only when shes competitive.. even with herself :cough..night at the Roxbury.. cough: but yeah shes awesome !!! and the whole competitive thing works to you guys' advantage soo yeah comments about her not being able to finish !! hahaha (shes gonna kick my ass if there are like a billion comments about that haha …. Oh welll .. I can hold my own haha)


End file.
